The Nexus One will never die.  Today we see an new software leak, in the form of a complete packaged ROM (courtesy of Football @ xda) with the FRG33 tag on board.  I haven't had a chance to load it up just yet, but the few that have say it seems a bit faster, has the new radio that was in the Korean Nexus One launch, but doesn't have the new Google apps on board.

If you're feeling adventurous, hit the source link and give it a whirl.  Be sure to let us know how it turns out in the forums! [xda-developers] Thanks, Daniel, for the tip!

Posted originally at Android Central

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The Nexus One has been through a lot -- it's been strapped to a rocket, had mutiple cameos in HBO's hit show "Entourage," it died and came back to life again as Google's main dev phone. But this saga doesn't end there; Google's Android Developer blog put out word that the Nexus One has now been put on backorder by HTC. According to Tim Bray, the inital batch of unlocked phones flew off the digital shelf. But hey -- I guess when you're this popular, everyone wants a piece of the pie (or frozen yogurt). [Android Developers Blog]

Posted originally at Android Central

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As always, we recommend backing up all your apps and data first, just in case. Then get to downloading (either at the source link, XDA or Rom Manager), and have at it! [CyanogenMod]

Posted originally at Android Central

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HTC's ShopAmerica website now has official Nexus One accessories available for order, including the official desktop dock (see our review), and the car dock (review).  If you just never got around to buying a dock for your Nexus One, then shook your fist in vain when Google stopped selling the Nexus and its accessories, this is great news.  Do note that both docks are on backorder, so "now available" really means "order now," and wait until at least August 17 for shipping.  I've ordered mine -- anyone else jumping on these so they aren't left in the cold if they disappear again? [HTC America] Thanks Tom!

Posted originally at Android Central

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Here you go, folks, a slew of benchmark tests with the Motorola Droid 2. We're doing this batch with a quorum of Android 2.2 devices -- the original Droid, the Droid 2, the Nexus One and the Evo 4G.

One pretty major caveat, however, is that the Linpack test doesn't appear to be working properly with the Droid and Droid 2, both of which use TI OMAP processors. The Nexus One and Evo 4G are scored just fine. You'll see what we mean, and if someone wants to explain things to us, we'll be at the bar. Video after the break.

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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We're still trying to get over the death of the Nexus One as a consumer phone, but at least Google planned on continuing to make it available to developers. And now it's official, available to devs for $529. You'll need to be a registered developer to get one (actually, you can buy up to 10), but at least the N1 will continue to live on. [Google Dev Blog]

Update: Yeah, you'll be buying the one with T-Mobile 3G.

Posted originally at Android Central

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Nexus One. Android. Rocket motors. You see where this is going, right? Self-described "Freelance scientific molecular evolutionary biological videographic NASA microgravitational & space education specialist" (and Phish fan) Matthew Reyes dropped word to Make: Online about the RocketMavericks event last weekend in Nevada, where James Dougherty's Intimidator-5 rocket did the deed. It was all in the name as using smartphone technology as low-cost rocket components, which is about the coolest thing we've ever heard.

Nexus One went up, Nexus One came down, shooting video all long the way. Did it survive? Well, watch the video after the break, and be sure to check out the Flickr page for the aftermath. [Make: Online, Flickr] Thanks, dppatel!

Posted originally at Android Central

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What do you get when you combine a Nexus One, a bike handlebar holder and a Wiimote? The answer is a whole lot of awesome.

YouTube user baza210 made this awesome contraption and made a video demonstrating it while playing an old-school SNES ROM. See the video after the break. What makes this even better is that he is playing one of my favorite games of all time, Super Mario World!

This is what makes Android great, so keep coming up with superb ways to use these devices, and we'll keep showing them. [via CrunchGear]

Posted originally at Android Central

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HTC recently announced it was going to start outfitting certain handsets with SLCD screens rather than AMOLED, due to short supply of the latter. The SLCD screens may be easier more plentiful, but do they look as nice? The people over at Howard Forums put them to a test in a video comparison, with a Nexus One sporting an AMOLED screen, an HTC Desire with S-LCD, a Motorola Milestone with regular LCD and a Samsung Wave with Super-AMOLED. 

The conclusions:

All the displays were really good, they all had decent colour and respectable viewing angles. The super AMOLED was noticeably less reflective than the others and was blacker with the best viewing angles. Super LCD had similar detail in the rock face video and had a superior horizontal viewing angle compared to a regular AMOLED display. The AMOLED had slightly better blacks (you can't tell from the video - sorry) and slightly better vertical viewing angles. Both Super LCD and AMOLED were very reflective.

Can't wait to get our hands on some. Check out video of the test after the break. [HowardForums via Slashgear]

Posted originally at Android Central

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