[Full G2 Review] The T-Mobile G2 is an Android 2.2 Froyo powered smartphone that was released in October 2010. It features a physical landscape QWERTY keyboard with a unique hinge mechanism. The G2 is sporting a 3.7-inch Super LCD screen with a 480x800 WVGA resolution. Inside is an 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor with 512MB of RAM and 3.7GB of ROM. The G2 smartphone also features a five-megapixel camera with LED flash and autofocus. Read on for the latest G2 news, reviews and videos:
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by Anton D. Nagy | May 12, 2011 5:06 AMRead OnHTC has already updated the HTC Desire HD and the HTC Incredible S to Android 2.3 and the official Gingerbread ROM for the HTC Desire has been leaked. As far as the T-Mobile G2 is concerned -- the US carrier's Desire Z -- we've already seen a leaked test ROM but now our favorite leaksters published the official Gingerbread ROM leak. The file name is PC10IMG_Vision_Gingerbread_S_TMOUS_2.13.531.8_Radio_12.52.60.25_26.08.04.30_M3_release_ 188635_signed from where we see that this is a new version 2.13.531.8 instead of the old, leaked 2.13.531.5. The Radio appears to be one of a higher version ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 9, 2011 7:27 PMRead OnSince last month, we've been expecting an update to T-Mobile's G2 to arrive this summer, bringing the phone an upgrade to Android 2.3 Gingerbread. That's great news for G2 owners who would rather be running a stock ROM than an unofficial Gingerbread build, but summer's still a bit of a ways off, and the wording of the rumor meant that we might not see the update until September. Then, a couple weeks back, a leaked test ROM became available, making it seem that T-Mobile might be preparing to release the update sooner, rather than later. That trend continues today, with a leaked promotional ...
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by Anton D. Nagy | April 28, 2011 2:30 AMRead OnWe know HTC is trying to master updating its devices to Android 2.3 Gingerbread and it looks like the carrier variants are not left out at all. The T-Mobile G2 -- the carrier variant of the HTC Desire Z -- was rumored to get Gingerbread this summer and a test ROM has been leaked to prove it. Those of you who own a T-Mobile G2 have several reasons to be excited about this: first of all, an official "stock" ROM is definitely on its way -- and probably hitting soon -- and second, with the test ROM out, you can all hope someone cracks the nut, irons out the glitches and makes it available ...
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by Joe Levi | April 19, 2011 1:20 PMRead OnWe've shown you various ways to make your Android-powered smartphone look like Windows Phone. Most of those methods involved loading a custom icon set into a custom launcher and spending quite a bit of time laying out screens -- and even then, the screens swiped left and right, not up and down like Windows Phone does. What we really needed was a launcher app that looked enough like Windows Phone, but was easy to use, and still let you use most of your widgets. The app comes in two flavors, an ad-based version and a "donate" version without ads. The ads only exist in the app list (not on ...
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by Joe Levi | April 16, 2011 11:43 PMRead OnHTC's latest launcher, known by some as Sense UI 3.0 and others as Sense 3D, is starting to be seen on various smartphones -- even those HTC never intended, such as the T-Mobile G2. It's not exactly what you'd call "functional" but it's a good, first-hand look at what upcoming devices will come with. If you've got a T-Mobile G2 you'll need to download the ROM, flash it with ROM Manager (or your favorite recovery image), and you will have to perform a factory reset or things will likely go awry. I'd also suggest performing a full backup before you jump in. (The video shows you how to do all ...
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by Joe Levi | April 8, 2011 6:25 PMRead OnWhen I'm not busy reviewing the latest and greatest Android-powered smartphone you'll find me pushing my T-Mobile G2 well-past anything my carrier ever intended it to do. Being able to do that has come from unlocking, rooting, and installing a custom ROM on the phone. For those of you who don't know, I generally run CyanogenMod 7 (which is based on the AOSP Gingerbread code) on my G2. For those of you running the "stock" ROM, you're currently stuck with Android 2.2 Froyo. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing inherently "wrong" with that, it's just nice to be running the latest version of ...
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by Joe Levi | March 23, 2011 12:59 PMRead OnBrandon and Geoff have already shared their top five Android apps with you. If you missed their videos, it's well worth your time to go back and take a look! Since I focus more on hacking, slashing, and pushing your Android past what it was designed to do, I thought I'd focus on my top five apps that are a must-have for any Android power-user -- though if you don't consider yourself part of that group you should still get quite a bit of utility out of what I'll show you in my video. ) 1. ROM Manager (basic version: free; premium version: $4.99) If you are interested in flashing ROMs, ...
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by Joe Levi | March 23, 2011 9:40 AMRead OnEarlier today we told you about T-Mobile's plan to roll out 42Mbps HSPA+ 4G, but what does that really mean? The 42Mbps speed may never be fully realized on any individual device, though faster throughput in any area means less time will be required to serve up the same amount of data. Assuming the amount of data remains the same, observed speeds across the coverage area should increase drastically. To accomplish the 42Mbps speeds T-Mobile needs to upgrade towers to the 42Mbps capable HSPA+, upgrade the bandwidth to those towers, and have phones (or other devices) that support the new ...
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by Joe Levi | March 22, 2011 2:52 PMRead OnAngry Birds in an insanely popular game for both Android and iOS. Now, with the upcoming release of the movie Rio (a movie about birds) and the Amazon Appstore for Android, the new version of Angry Birds has been released: Angry Birds, Rio. Like the original game, Rio begins with a short story. This chapter begins with the birds being reunited with the eggs that had been stolen previously. Not able to enjoy their reunion for long, a metal cage is dropped over them and they are flown to Rio beneath a helicopter, then dropped into a warehouse. In the warehouse are other cages with other ...
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by Joe Levi | March 15, 2011 2:22 PMRead OnThere are two things that most consider to be "mutually exclusive" on Android-powered phones: Gingerbread, and HTC Sense. Of course this is changing as HTC is releasing ROMs for their devices with both Gingerbread and their Sense UI, but currently there aren't that many with both. Enter the SenseGinger Villian ROM on the T-Mobile G2 which does a very good job coupling the two together. In the video I describe the process of getting everything setup, but since shooting, a little bit has changed. - You'll still need to have a rooted device and be running ClockworkMod Recovery 3.x to be able ...
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by Stephen Schenck | March 15, 2011 2:19 AMRead OnWith all the factors that weigh into smartphone performance, it can be maddening trying to determine which provider offers the highest-throughput data network. Available bandwidth varies regionally, by time of day, and in the face of network maintenance. PCWorld and Novarum decided to evaluate the current condition of wireless data in the United States, and after 177,000 measurements, they finally have some results to show, putting T-Mobile and its HSPA+ network up against Verizon's LTE for the top spot. The tests looked both at 4G data modems for laptops, as well as some of the ...
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by Joe Levi | March 8, 2011 1:20 PMRead OnFor those of you running custom ROMs on your Android-powered smartphones, CyanogenMod 7 has a new release candidate available: CM7 RC2. This version includes bug fixes, extra CM features that were missing from the previous release candidate, notification profiles, WiMax on the HTC EVO, and it updates the OS to Gingerbread 2.3.3 from 2.3.2. I installed CM7 RC2 on my T-Mobile G2 without any problems. Installing on my Nexus One resulted in a boot loop and I was forced to revert to a previous backup. If you're interested and haven't flashed CM7 RC1, head over to CyanogenMod.com to see if CM7 ...
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by Joe Levi | February 28, 2011 5:21 PMRead OnWith Firefox Mobile for Android hitting another beta milestone, it's time to start looking at which is better, the built-in Browser, or Firefox Mobile 4.0b5. But how do you measure "better"? Is a browser "better" if it scores higher in various web-standards tests? Of if it's "better" at rendering javascript? Or faster at loading pages? Or at loading pages that are easier to use? Let's go take a look in this in-depth video! Before you jump in, we'll run through some history and background, including a section on why web-standards are important, then through several tests and benchmarking ...
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by Joe Levi | February 26, 2011 3:10 AMRead OnJust when Samsung is finally getting Android 2.2 Froyo to their smartphones, HTC went and announced that many of its recent phones will be getting Android 2.3 Gingerbread in the Spring. The devices in question range from the Desire and Desire HD to the Desire Z and the newer Incredible S. Many of you know that the HTC Desire Z and the T-Mobile G2 are essentially the same phone, the latter without HTC's Sense UI. No mention was made whether or not an official Gingerbread update would be made available for the G2 at the same time -- or ever. We'll have to wait for T-Mobile to answer that ...
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by Joe Levi | February 16, 2011 3:33 PMRead OnToday the CyanogenMod team made Release Candidates of CyanogenMod 7 available for the Nexus One, T-Mobile G2, myTouch 4G, and Evo 4G. CM7 is based on the Android 2.3 Gingerbread AOSP source, plus a bunch of tweaks, additions, and improvements. A Release Candidate (RC) is just that, it's a release of the code that could become final if no bugs are found. Generally a CM build will go through two or three RCs before it's finally released. RCs should be usable as your daily driver, and in my experience, there's no reason not to use CM7 RC1 on your phone. There are a few things to keep in mind ...