First Dual Core Mobile

According to an internal document doing the rounds the MyTouch HD is set to be the first phone to surface with a dual core Arm processor. Whether or not the document is authentic is debatable however if true this is very exciting and could open the flood gates for other dual core phones and more complex apps.

The full rumoured MyTouch HD Specs

• 1Ghz Dual Core CPU
• 4GB Internal Memory
• 8 GB SDCard Included
• 5MP Camera
• VGA Front Facing Camera
• 3.8 Inch Screen

Read more here

Nexus One ROM leak: FRG33

Just a quick heads up that FRG33 has leaked for the Nexus One. This was originally hoped to be a leak of gingerbread considering the G in the version title, but alas it's only a Froyo update leak. Though as the saying goes, don't look a gift horse in the face.

Reports have said it appears to make things a big smoother and WIFI is more stable and a little quicker.

For those interested, head on over to the XDA-Developers forum and check it out.

HTC Desire HD Leak

There appears to be a bit of information on the HTC Desire HD doing the rounds on the internet. While I'm a bit sceptical as it doesn't have the usual HTC industrial look, I'm also a bit excited. It sports a larger screen than the Samsung Galaxy S and comes wrapped in an aluminium case. This might be my next phone.

Unofficial Specs

• 4.3 inch WVGA screen
• Android 2.2
• 8MP camera
• 1Ghz processor (Assuming snapdragon)
• 4GB of internal storage
• Aluminium case

Edit: It appears my suspicions of this being a legit phone was a bit misplaced. Behold the video footage.

Nexus One: The New Developer Phone

For all those developers that still wish to lay their hands on the Nexus One without worrying about a contract, may have the chance. If rumours are correct Google is releasing the Nexus One as a developer phone. It is not available yet but is expected to surface in the near future.

This is a great move by Google as their current developer phone line up, consisting of a rebadged HTC Magic and Dream, is getting a bit long in the tooth and threatens to be come insignificant.

Android 3.0 Gingerbread

In the IT world everything moves fast and Android is no different. Just as Android 2.2 (Froyo) has been officially release, we are now setting our eyes on the next increment of Android. So just what are the rumours concerning Gingerbread:

• Recommended requirements: 1Ghz CPU, 512MB RAM and 3.5 Inch screen
• Support for 1280 x 720 resolution on 4 inch and larger screens
• Redesigned 3D user interface consistent with the Nexus One image gallery

The recommended requirements appear to be what I would have expected, high end of todays phones but reasonable for the time period that Gingerbread will be release in . The larger screen support is a welcome feature for those of use that are eyeing of an Android tablet in the next quarter or so. Hopefully this means that Google has accepted Android's position as a tablet OS and perhaps convince them to open the market up to tablets.

The most interesting rumour out of the bunch is the new 3D UI and what this will mean for companies that create their own user interfaces. A lot of people seem to think that this will spell the end for custom UI's like HTC sense. However without more information I would be hesitant to draw such a conclusion, it is more likely that this 3D UI is just an advanced launcher. If that's the case it will simply be business as usual.

Rock Player - public beta

Just a quick heads up for those that are enjoying the leaked Rockbase player. A new public beta version is now available.

From my own personal testing the performance doesn't appear to have improved much, if at all, when compared to the leaked beta. Unfortunately the FPS meter is no longer available which leaves numerical comparison out. One thing I did notice was that H.264 format media I used for testing contained block artifacts which is in stark comparison to the leaked beta which had perfect picture quality.

Considering the performance is roughly the same and the visual quality appears to be better on the leaked version I wouldn't recommend upgrading at this stage. Though if you have specific issues with playback, it might be an idea to try out the new public beta to see if it has been fixed.

Another thing to note is that the public beta adds a non-removable water mark to videos top left corner and expires on July 15. The leaked beta doesn't contain this water mark although I'm not sure if it contains an expiry, I'd be surprised if it didn't.

You can get the public beta from here

Rock Player - DivX and MKV player

I've been on the lookout for a multi-format video player for a while now. Unfortunately the only thing that comes close to a multi-format media player is yxplayer which I've never managed to get working for any other formats than the Android defaults. Well that is until I stumbled across RockPlayer.

RockPlayer is a multi-format beta video player that is not only extremely stable but works surprisingly well. In all of my testing RockPlayer never forced closed even when it was brought to its knees by 720p content.

To test this app's capabilities I used 3 different resolution videos, ranging from your usual 350MB TV episode through to 720P content. The results were rather encouraging.

Container	Resolution	Video FPS	Rendered FPS	Image Quality	Audio Quality
AVI	640 x 368	30	29 - 30	Excellent	Excellent
AVI	1280 x 528	23	16 - 17	Excellent	Excellent
AVI	1280 x 720	26	5 - 6	Excellent	Stuttered

If you're looking for something to play HD content then this isn't going to be your silver bullet, well not at the moment anyway. Though for those of you who want to watch videos a little less daunting this may be just the thing you need. Keep in mind though that your mileage may vary on less powered phones.

It can be downloaded here

Full credit to Modaco website for bring this to my attention.

Motorola Droid 2

I've always been a big fan of the Motorola Droid and Milestone. The screen is beautifully crips and clear, the keyboard while not very useful for my fat fingers is a god send for the Mrs. The main attraction for me, is it just feels solid. The cold weighty steel casing gives the impression of a phone that's been built with consideration and care. Infact if Motorola opened the bootloader for the milestone I'd sell my Nexus one and purchase one without a second thought. So it goes without saying when I heard about the Motorola Droid 2 my ears pricked up and I could feel that deep down excited feeling.

The hardware specs look pretty good, not extremely impressive, but still a considerable improvement over the original. A nice and welcomed bump in processor speed from 500 to 750 and a new keyboard are just what the doctor ordered.

• Android 2.1
• 3.7″ screen
• 750MHz OMAP processor
• Wi-Fi tethering
• 8GB internal
• 8GB SD card preinstalled
• Updated keyboard
• 5MP camera
• New version of Motoblur

The obvious let down here is no Froyo but without a release date set it's really early days. I wouldn't be supprised if there was an update for Android 2.2 shortly after release. The other interesting thing here is no front facing camera and no HDMI port. Neither of those things are a deal breaker for me. I've never been really excited by video calls and a quick transfer to a computer or laptop is easy enough to warrant a HDMI port a little redundent.

Though out of all the improvements I have to say the new boot screen is the best improvement in my opinion.