If you have held on strong to your HTC Droid Eris, and not lost hope even with the lack of official updates you will rejoice to know that custom ROM developer punk.kaos has brought a sweet taste of Gingerbread to your device. KaosGingerbread, a Android 2.3 AOSP based ROM has undergone quite a few different versions, and many improvements have been made along the way, each one just continuing to get better and better. While the ROM is still not perfect, anyone who has wanted a taste of Gingerbread on their device, this is a great option for you, and remember as always, flash at your own risk. For more information, and download links be sure to check out this thread on XDA. Thanks to everyone who sent this in!

Droid Eris gets a little bit of Gingerbread ROM loving posted originally by Android Central

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What is this we have here? Well, thanks to our friends over at Best Buy it, appears we have a Droid Eris running Windows Mobile! Not only is it running Windows Mobile, but it also appears to be sporting some sort of HSPA GSM 3G network based on that nice little "H" up there. Unless we’re missing something (and that’s doubtful), I don’t think Verizon has made any decisions to ditch its CDMA network any time soon. Photoshop fails sure aren’t anything new, but they surely don’t get old, either! Thanks Is377. [Best Buy via the Android Central Forums].

Photoshop fail: Droid Eris runs Windows Mobile posted originally by Android Central

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A handful of Verizon Android smartphones appear to have their end-of-life dates hung over their heads. Phones that already have shuffled off this mortal coil are the HTC Droid Eris (June 16) and original Droid (August 6).

And a handful of phones — the Droid Incredible, LG Ally, Droid 2 and Droid X — apparently are slated for EOL on March 31, 2011. (Edit: Yes, 2011, not 2010.) That’s give the Droid Deuce a mere seven-month lifespan, which isn’t out of the question, given that the original Droid isn’t even a year old yet.

Then there’s the Motorola Devour, whose EOL date is listed as March 1, 2011. Only, we’ve already seen it listed as being under EOL, and we’d be very surprised if that March date is correct. So what does that mean? Who knows. And who knows how firm these March 2011 dates are. And either way, it’s not like your phone will stop working come next spring. [Phonedog]

Posted originally at Android Central

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Consumer Reports’ latest smartphone ratings are in September’s issue of the magazine (you know, those things made out of wood pulp), and eight Android phones made the "Recommended" list. And Android made the top two phone for three of the four major U.S. carriers. The winners are (in order):

• Verizon: Motorola Droid (1), HTC Droid Incredible (2), HTC Droid Eris (5)
• T-Mobile: HTC myTouch 3G Slide (1), Google Nexus One (2)
• Sprint: HTC Evo 4G (1), HTC Hero (2), Samsung Moment (3)

The AT&T 3G version of the Nexus One wasn’t listed under its respective carrier, though it is noted alongside the T-Mobile version. We definitely would have put it above the Motorola Backflip (ranked No. 3 for the carrier), though, and it’s odd that CR decided not to.

Other decisions we’d disagree with? The Motorola Devour is ahead of the Palm Pre Plus? Really? The newest Android phone we see listed is the myTouch 3G Slide, so it’ll be interesting to see how much more Android dominates next time around. [Consumer Reports - subscription required]

Posted originally at Android Central

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Maybe Apple finally figured out how to hold a phone, or maybe it just realized it was bad PR move to begin with — either way, all of those "tests" at apple.com/antenna showing other phones losing signal strength when held have disappeared. The videos showing the Droid X and Droid Eris supposedly crapping out remain on YouTube, however (though you do have do dig for them a bit on Apple’s YouTube page), so we can still go to them for a laugh.

Guess that means we can all quit watching our bars with a worried look on our faces, eh? [via TiPB and Slashgear]

Posted originally at Android Central

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Good news Eris owners — your OTA update has begun to roll out, and it’s been confirmed that it fixes the ‘Silent Call’ issue.  It may take a week or more for all customers to get the MR4 update, but for those who just can’t be bothered to wait the OTA link has been found.  You can get the file (direct from Google) right HERE, and install it via your Eris’ recovery menu.  As always, if you’re rooted or running a custom ROM, sit tight and wait for your ROM developer to get the update merged in.  [Verizon Community forum] Thanks xstrider!

Posted originally at Android Central

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While HTC didn’t quite come out swinging like RIM did after Apple’s Friday press conference, spokesman Eric Lin wasn’t afraid to let Pocket-Lint in on some hard numbers of their own.  If you recall, Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs remarked that only 0.55 percent of users have called in to complain about signal issues with the new iPhone 4.  He also proceeded to show some pretty pictures of other cell phones signal bar display while being held ‘the wrong way’ — including our own Droid Eris.  Now, 0.55 percent is an awfully low number, but it looks huge when compared to the numbers Mr. Lin gives us — "Approximately .016% of customers."  I’m no math wizard, but that’s less.  A lot less. About 35 times less. ( I asked a math wizard.)

This begs us to address the point of Friday’s spectacle press conference. Luckily, our pal Rene over at TiPb went through the trouble of rounding up a slew of SPE writer and editor’s take on the whole thing, which turns out is a really good read.  Do yourself a favor and check it out. 

Comments are open, feel free to discuss percentages versus sales, your experiences with the Eris’ signal, and what you think of the way our poor lil’ Eris got dragged through the mud.  Just try to keep the flames to a minimum please [Pocket-lint]

Posted originally at Android Central

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs led a news conference today to explain what he’s now dubbed "Antennagate" — and he called out a couple of other smartphones to show that the iPhone 4 isn’t the only one to drop signal strength when held. On the Android side, Apple chose the HTC Droid Eris, which has since been replaced by the HTC Droid Incredible.

We get it. A whole lot of people have had their eyes opened to the wonderful world of RF engineering, and suddenly we’re all amateur EEs and are going to be watching our "bars" — the little lines that approximate signal strength. Fine. And there’s chatter going on that the new Samsung Galaxy S phones have the same sort of "death grip."

Fact is, you’re likely to see signal attenuation on any phone. And if you want to stare at your bars all day, be our guest. Where we start to worry is when calls are dropped. And that’s always going to be a marriage between hardware design and network capability.

Our suggestion: Everybody relax a tad. This iPhone thing might well be blown out of proportion. Or it might well be bigger than we think. Frankly, we’re not going to let it drag us down. While Apple fans have a single phone on which to focus, Android has more phones than we know what to do with. We’ll judge call quality the same way we always have — by using the phone and making calls.

(Oh, and Jobs’ crack about nobody wanting to buy that "Hummer" of a Droid X? We think that’s been disproven, right?)

Posted originally at Android Central

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Apple CEO Steve Jobs led a news conference today to explain what he’s now dubbed "Antennagate" — and he called out a couple of other smartphones to show that the iPhone 4 isn’t the only one to drop signal strength when held. On the Android side, Apple chose the HTC Droid Eris, which has since been replaced by the HTC Droid Incredible.

We get it. A whole lot of people have had their eyes opened to the wonderful world of RF engineering, and suddenly we’re all amateur EEs and are going to be watching our "bars" — the little lines that approximate signal strength. Fine. And there’s chatter going on that the new Samsung Galaxy S phones have the same sort of "death grip."

Fact is, you’re likely to see signal attenuation on any phone. And if you want to stare at your bars all day, be our guest. Where we start to worry is when calls are dropped. And that’s always going to be a marriage between hardware design and network capability.

Our suggestion: Everybody relax a tad. This iPhone thing might well be blown out of proportion. Or it might well be bigger than we think. Frankly, we’re not going to let it drag us down. While Apple fans have a single phone on which to focus, Android has more phones than we know what to do with. We’ll judge call quality the same way we always have — by using the phone and making calls.

(Oh, and Jobs’ crack about nobody wanting to buy that "Hummer" of a Droid X? We think that’s been disproven, right?)

Posted originally at Android Central

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That’s right Droid Eris users, Verizon did not forget you — there’s a software update coming on July 16 that’s slated to fix a whole slew of audio and contacts issues.  When the update to Android 2.1 rolled around, there was quite a bit of disappointment as things were, shall we say, broken, and with the Eris being discontinued everyone thought that was the end of bug-fixes and other software enhancements.  Nice to see that wasn’t the case, and Verizon hasn’t forgotten it’s customers who prefer the smaller, but still sexy, Eris.  Hit the break to see another leaked screen shot with some information about exactly what is getting fixed.  [DroidLife]

Posted originally at Android Central

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