Well, look at this little surprise.  Looks like PPCGeeks forum user drellisdee managed to get Android 2.01 to boot up on his Verizon Imagio (see full review) using the HaRET linux bootloader.

While porting Android to our WinMo phones is not that new, nor still far from perfect (most are plagued with hardware integration issues), progress is still creeping along.

We'll just let Drellisdee summarize: 

I've gotten android 2.01 to boot on Imagio based on the topaz work on xda. After changing the the startup config's I've got the touchscreen responding properly but the hardware keys arent mapped right. The latest kernel noted in post 602 on xda didnt boot but the original pkg did. PS vol down is for vol and backup key as its mapped currently and the bottom right onscreen button on the press the android to start will let you change the lang to english.

• WiFi
• Bluetooth
• Hardware key mapping
• CDMA radio
• GPS

Baby steps, baby steps.  Hopefully within a few months we'll all be dual booting the latest Android doughnut-thingamajigger on our WinMo devices.  Why? The same reason WinMo users always innovate: because we can!

PS  Here's the TP2 bounty thread with their bootable version, still in early stages.

It's pretty well known that the HTC HD2 (Leo) had a wee camera problem with some odd colors showing up in the center.

That has been addressed via a patch, which is available now.

Of course, what would be the fun of having a patch for one device and not trying it out on another?  Not very much.

Turns out if you apply the .cab'd version to the Verizon Imagio (see review) it greatly speeds up the auto-focus -- as in cuts the time in half as well as just general quickness of the camera app. Image quality is said to be the same and no one is reporting any negatives, so if you've done a fresh backup give it a go.

And for the record, we did try this on our Sprint Touch Pro 2 and saw no difference ;-)

Download the .cab here.

While the HTC Touch Pro 2 releases took center stage last month, HTC quietly released another Windows Phone running Windows Mobile 6.5. Way back on October 6, 2009 Verizon and HTC announced the release of the Imagio, also known as the Whitestone.

The Imagio is a "black slab" phone designed very similar to the Touch HD but unique enough to stand on its own. The Imagio is a Verizon "exclusive" and we found it to be an interesting Windows phone.

Follow the break to what type of impression the HTC Imagio left.

Read the rest of this entry »

Let's play our favorite game: Guess the carrier. For those of you who don't work in cell phone stores, the photo you see above from Phone Arena is of a CelleBrite unit, which transfers info from one phone to another (presumably) pretty seamlessly. Note the "source model" here is the Toshiba TG01 (See our latest hands-on), and it's said that this one's from a Verizon store. Far-fetched? Not really. Remember that we've already seen a CDMA version slide through the feds.

If this pans out, it would give Big Red a pair of black slab Windows phones -- the TG01 and the HTC Imagio. That could be a tough call for VZW customers. On one hand you have the TG01 and its 4.1-inch (resistive) touchscreen and 1GHz Snapdragon processor. On the other hand you have the HTC Imagio, and all the custom ROM hackery that goes along with it.

This also probably all but rules out the HTC HD2 hitting Verizon first, but anything's possible, we guess.

It should come as little surprise that the boys and girls at Revision 3 have a cool job than you. Look no further that this episode of Tekzilla in which Patrick Norton and Veronia Belmont go hands-on with the Verizon Imagio as well as ... wait for it ... the HTC HD2. As if we needed another reason to want that phone. Head in to about the 28-minute mark for the goods. [via pocketnow]

OK, this one's funnier, and I'm getting used to the balloon guys. [via]

To wrap up the Microsoft NYC Open House this week, we got to play with some of the latest and greatest Windows phones featuring Windows Mobile 6.5.  It was all the usual suspects if you will: AT&T Touch Pro 2 (aka Tilt 2), Pure; Verizon Imagio. (Toshiba TG01, Sprint Intrepid & the LG GM750 were covered elsewhere).

All in all we came away very impressed. All the manufacturers present have really stepped up their game and we think customers win out in the end with this years crop of WM6.5 phones.

Read on for some great photos and our thoughts on these three devices.

Read the rest of this entry »

That's right, folks. For $199 after two-year contract and rebate, you, too, can have your very own Verizon Imagio, with it's 3.6-inch screen and Windows Mobile 6.5 goodness. Act now, because if it's anywhere near as popular as the Touch Pro 2 has been for Verizon (it's currently out of stock), you could find yourself waiting for a while. And if you want to pick one up in a Verizon store, you're going to have to wait until Oct. 20 anyway.

Verizon Wireless

That last video of the Verizon Imagio too little, too dark for you? Check out this one from Wirelesszone, where we see it put up against the BlackBerry Storm for a size comparison and 8 minutes of video goodness. We were hoping for a better look at the on-screen keyboard, because we've been told it's as good, if not better, than any on-screen keyboard out there. Of course, there's only one way to test that ...

What do you do when you see HTC's Eric Lin at the GDGT New York launch party? You corner him and make him show you some of the latest HTC goodness, of course. On Thursday night, he had none other than the Verizon Imagio on hand, and the guys at Pocketnow got a bit of video of the beast. We get a good look at the UI and the MediaFLO TV feature -- the uber-cool kickstand doubles as an antenna, apparently.

This is easily being heralded as one of the top devices of the year, at least short of anything with a Tegra or Snapdragon next-generation processor. And we're starting to see what's causing all the hype.