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There is a nice selection of Android Phones available and upcoming, but everybody wants to know when we’ll get a nice bump from the seemingly standard 528 MHz processor to something a bit beefier. Well if the name has anything to do with it, the HTC Dragon could come with Qualcomm’s 1GHz processor which I think is safe to say would be awesome. But right now, this is just rumor topped with speculation from a few modders with a leak.
Reignzone (and a few others) from XDA Developers got ahold of an experimental HTC build and the rest is history:
So, what I’ve got here is a little build we’re referring to as the “Pet Dragon”. It’s highly experimental at the moment…and from what I have noticed after reviewing the build.prop files from this “system dump” of the device I spoke of earlier today…HTC Dragon. (dubbed “Zoom 2″) —> the screen resolution is 800×480…which as you can tell is quite an impressive resolution. Judging from the release keys, it’s also a capacitive touch screen device. Now, having said all this…it IS NOT the HTC Leo, HTC Desire, or Passion. Because this device is in fact operating on the “2.0″ firmware along with the HTC Sense user interface applied for style. So, it’s like an “Eclair Hero”. Lol.
Unzip the packaged files, and enjoy.
But again, bare with me…it’s still very “bare bones” and needs a lot of work…but this device is going to be a GAME CHANGER! Perhaps more so than the HTC Leo!
I’m liking that “GAME CHANGER” name. Here are some screenshots with a device purportedly running the build. Remember… they don’t have the HARDWARE in hand but instead are running the HTC Dragon software on existing hardware:
You can see the above image says “1.5” but they say that its operating on the 2.0 firmware with HTC Sense which is curious. They also say it will ship with the “latest” version of Android when it launches… whatever that might be – probably 2.0. Here are screenshots showing all the applications:
A few interesting inclusions are HTC SSD and TV Browser. Also included were the setup/boot screens asking you to initiate and connect/sync your Google Account. These screenshots clearly indicate the phone as being called the HTC Dragon:
Check out the fact that the “Learn More” screen features a specific URL for the HTC Dragon – http://www.htc.com/dragon. Visiting that link will yield absolutely nothing… yet. And remember, this could potentially be all rubish, ya never know. We only have OS screen shots to go by and with a little piece of software called Adobe Photoshop… anything goes these days.
Seems cool. About time htc come out with a snapdragon android.
Well this looks like something Drizzy compiled and I trust Drizzy’s work myself. There is nothing that absoloutly says that this will run Snapdragon, just hints that it could. I believe the device is real. I can believe that they intend to ship it with 2.0. I can also believe that it will run the 1GHz and I also believe these screenshots are real. If this were all shopped, it would have been easier to lie on the Firmware Version and make it 2.0 than leave it at 1.5, what this experimental build is most likely built on as thats primarily whats been out as of late.
breathE – just saying..
Could be fake…
Sounding better than the Samsung Galaxy, my current Android favorite. So, hopefully it’ll be out sometime next year. Please? :)
looks like htc is getting ready to compete heavily with sony x3 and archos phone tablet
Another player with 1ghz processor, we already have rachel,something from acer(not even rumoured yet,but there isnt much distance between 728mhz and 1ghz),something from samsung(they are already building on one not sure that os is android).
Quite a name for the device too”dragon”.i think the name would be justified in the sense that android market is heating up and they wanted something to lead them through the fire.
Could also be real….
I’d love to puff the magic dragon.
Hopefully it has a hardware keyboard. I’m sick of seeing all these touch only androids. I like having a physical keyboard because i can type 10x faster on it, its waaay more accurate, and none of the emulators i have support touch only (no multi-touch on G1 :( ) and honestly i wouldn’t want on screen controls for them anyway. Thats just me. sorry to rant, i just like HARDWARE KEYBOARDS!!!! lol
no no no, hardware keyboards make the phones too bulky and probably too expensive. A nice responsive, large screen is just fine…IMO and hopefully the phone designers :-p
I’m there with you stefan… I actually like the touch screen phones, but they are less functional than the hard keypads. Specifically when it comes to game emulators! Tis the reason I am so pumped about the Cliq’s D-pad at the moment!
The only thing Android manufactures need to do…. is stick to a launch date!
Apple does launches to perfection… how many time have we seen phoneX is coming out Q3 then Q4…. I am already bored.
Set a date and stick to it… atleast that way they can drum up interest.
I hate to say this but almost all manufacturers couldn’t even organise a pissup in a brewery
It seems to be confirmed
http://www.siftwire.com/htc-snapdragon-chipset-smartphones.html
I agree that hardware keyboards are a plus but having a big enough/responsive enough screen will due. It has to be at least 3.5 inches or larger in order for me to give up the physical qwerty. For those that want a keyboard go to Verizon and get a sholes… Its slimmer than a storm and has a pyhysical qwerty and large screen .. that should suffice.
Back to the “Dragon” I have been dying to hear from HTC about a device with faster speeds for the holidays..everything else seems to surrent to last gen that I wont buy a cliq/magic/hero
plus I have hero running smooth on my G1… no need to by a phone with the same processor again!
im dying for a phone with fast processor, the browser is damned laggy whenever i open big sites such as shacknews or ebay.com (non-mobile version)
sadly it wouldn’t matter to me if it doesn’t come with a qwerty. Some of us cant help that we have sausage fingers lol…..I would prefer(at least) 4″ to be big enough to forget the keyboard
Hope it has full qwerty board(5 row). They have made enough all touch phones. Of all rumored and upcoming phones….. none are for me unless this is basicaly a beefed up g1. How bout a 4 inche capacitative screen, full qwerty, trackball and snapdragon. Who wouldn’t eat that up?????? Even if it was a bit bigger, people want bigger screens.
the TV Browser application might be an app for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO which is to watch TV on mobiles. that being said, this phone might be heading to AT&T or Verizon since these 2 carriers have MediaFLO supported handsets now. This is very exciting!!! i just hope the Dragon will have some great memory and battery specs.
Thank you for picking up this story as well Rob. It’s appreciated to see that other popular Android news sites find this to be rather interesting.
I’m glad that you have credited not only myself, but “others”. The developers known as, Drizzy, along with Stericson are among others that I’m aware of having received this system dump.
Keep in mind, the firmware suggests 1.5, because this is a “beta” form of this build version. It is not “packed” with all of the goodies we can expect to see with Android firmware 2.0, nor the included HTC applications that are integrated shortly thereafter.
Great read. Thanks again.
For those of you with questions, feel free to follow me on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/site_unscene
Main thing I want is to be able to load Skype and use it !
how difficult would it be to create barebones kits for cellphones? (like for pc’s on tigerdirect etc..)
i think whoever exploits that idea first has a goldmine on his hands.
you pretty much decide what you want in a phone, and then you get it.
–
*: i want a 1GHz processor, physical keyboard, no os, 512Mb ram, 16 Gb ssd phone with a 2600mAh battery please.
%: ok, your total comes out to be $432.57.
*: thank you, i love you.
%: i love you too. bye
*: bye
think your on to somethin pieter
anyone know what that thing is that is in the flame comin out of android’s mouth?
it’s an iphone being melted
Ya….. looks like he threw the iphone up and melted out of the air.lol
1GHz CPU…Android will be god if that comes out.
Agree with all of you who want a beefed up g1/dream. I want the physical keyboard to control emulated games or chat while playing touch games.
4.3 capacitive multitouch screen please!
very fast processor (snapdragon, omap 36xx (45nm) or tegra
384 MB ram
8gb rom
1500mah battery
x3 user interface
We need a new battery superformat with two times the height so high capacity does not rime with bulge and glossy.
If i could order my ideal phone with android precharged for a reasonable price on the net, i would !
Terran, it is a cigarette I think.
Did anyone notice that the kernel seems to be developped by Toshiba ?
This is certainly a fake, a toshiba with a Snapdragon CPU is certainly more coherent, since they already released the TG01 WM device with that cpu
FAKE… at least some of it.
The Zoom2 is a TI device which has an OMAP3430. See http://omapzoom.org
@Pieter would that also mean real upgrades as oposed to the current system where upgrade means… new phone?
awww. i got the 600 mhz processor, but that 1ghz sure looks nice, old chipset out new chipset in… faster PC(phone computer) me likey, no more getting ripped off on new every 2 plan.
@john
very good point. dude i think we’ve got one hell of a business scheme in the works here. too bad i dont have the capital or the knowledge to get the wheels rolling on this. but if anybody decides to give it a go, let me know. i’m a bioengineering major right now, but i can easily switch to a communications major and become your head spokesman.
@Pieter, John
Because it really would be that simple to mix and match new processors, RAM etc into existing phones…
Your idea would slow the progression of the mobile industry massively because everything new would have to adhere to existing standards.
Stupid.
So these pictures are obviously fake. If you look below kernel version it says “drizzy drake” the name of a cooked rom. So why would HTC be working on a prototype with a cooked rom on it?
O please mama let this be true…..when you wish upon a star, there’s no telling who you ARE !!! hahahaha
sounds good, i really want to see how the qualcomm’s 1ghz performs compared to the tegra. anyone got any leads on what the expected prices might be like ?
I’m calling shenanigens. It appears to be some command line tweaks on an existing ROM.
the TV Browser application might be an app for Qualcomm’s MediaFLO which is to watch TV on mobiles. that being said, this phone might be heading to AT&T or Verizon since these 2 carriers have MediaFLO supported handsets now. This is very exciting!!! i just hope the Dragon will have some great memory and battery specs. http://bit.ly/htc-dragon-point-of-view
Waiting for this Android to be launched in India.