We’ve known Windows Live Hotmail was due to receive an Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) update for months. 

Today, it’s arrived.

The new Exchange service supports Windows Mobile 6, Windows Phone 7, and the Apple iPhone.  Android support is not yet official, but it may work with your Android-powered device, so give it a try (Android 2.1 is not supported yet; Microsoft will release a list of tested Android phones soon).

Here are the general settings for configuring your device for Exchange ActiveSync Windows Live Hotmail:

Server / URL: m.hotmail.com

Username: Full email address, for example: someone@example.com

Domain: Leave this blank

SSL: Enable this

Certificate:Accept the SSL certificate when prompted

You can find a detailed set of configuration settings instructions for devices here.

Source: Windows Team Blog

BGR has posted images of an upcoming EVO-style Android smartphone from HTC. The article accompanying the images suggests it’s headed for Verizon Wireless.

The source that provided the photos says the smartphone “makes the Droid 2 look like a kids [sic] toy.”

The unnamed phone has a 8MP camera with a two-LED flash, a kickstand, a microUSB data/charging port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and appears to have a large 4.3-inch screen. BGR also reports – and one image seems to confirm – that the phone has a front-facing camera.

The Pocket PC Central Hands-On Motorola Droid X Review has been posted.

The Pocket PC Central Accessories Center has been updated and now includes accessories for the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 2 Android Smartphone.  There you can find cases, sync cables, and other accessories for the newest Droid smartphone.

The Droid 2 Accessories Center will continue to be updated over the coming weeks.

Learn more about the Motorola Droid 2 Smartphone…

• Motorola Droid 2 Car Accessories

• Motorola Droid 2 Batteries & Extenders

• Motorola Droid 2 Chargers

• Motorola Droid 2 Sync & HDMI Cables

Well, that came out of nowhere. Although we knew the device existed early this year, today’s arrival of the Dell Aero at AT&T Mobility was a total surprise – at least to us.

And also a bit of a mystery. 

Dell’s Aero smartphone runs not Android 2.2, 2.1 or even 2.0.  The Aero runs Android 1.5 which is so, well… HTC Hero.  Even the Dell Streak tablet runs Android 1.6.  Dell doesn’t think a year-old OS is a problem though, noting that the Aero is running  many “Dell user interface enhancements.”  One would hope.

Features include a 3.5-inch capacitive touchscreen (640×360), UMTS/HSDPA mobile broadband, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, a 624Mhz CPU, a microSDHC card slot (a 2GB card is included, 32GB max), GPS, a 1000mAh Li-Ion battery, and a 5MP camera.

Leaving the disappointing OS version aside, the Aero has a few selling points.  First, it’s only $99 with a two-year agreement, a price which is certain to drop in the coming weeks, at least from third-party retailers.  It’s also a great looking device that’s thin and sleek.  And at only 3.6-ounces, it’s quite light-weight for an Android-powered phone.

You can order the Aero today via Dell.  The handset is slated for direct sale by AT&T “soon.”

Amazon.com currently has the best out-the-door price on the Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid 2 Android phone: $99. 

With a two-year service agreement, you can get the Droid 2 for $99 at checkout (no rebates required).  Shipping is also free.  If you already have an AT&T wireless account and want to upgrade to the Droid 2, you can do that too – for $149.99 at checkout.

Learn more about the Droid 2 Android Phone…

The direct Verizon Wireless price for the Droid 2 $199 with a two-year contract. 

Tired of waiting for the over-the-air Android 2.2 update to hit your Droid X?  Take a number.  But if you’re willing to do a little work, you can have your sexy-Xey up and running with Froyo in under thirty minutes.

Interested?

Some devoted geeks at MyDroidWorld have gotten their fast-moving fingers on the Droid X Android 2.2 “Froyo” update – and they’ve posted it as a ready-to-install .ZIP file.  Anyone with a Droid X can install it; all you need is a USB cable, openness to some very low-level geekery, and a few minutes of free time.

We’ll walk you through the process step-by-step.

First, you’ll need to download the 68MB update file – update.zip – and store it on your Droid’s microSD card.  We’ve posted the file for download here, but you can also download it from the MyDroidWorld page.  Be sure the file is stored in the root directory of the SD card (in the main directory and not a subfolder).

Next, you’ll need to restore your Droid X to factory specs.  This will erase all third-party apps and any data not stored on the microSD memory card.  Doing a hard wipe is not absolutely necessary to install this update, but without letting the built-in wiper do the wiping, you’ll have more work to do.  And, even with that, it’s always better to start clean to avoid troubles. 

We highly recommend the clean slate approach, but if you’re interested, you can read a more detailed list of what must be done before starting the upgrade at the main MyDroidWorld article.  You’ll also find information there related to rooting your Droid X and upgrading already-rooted handsets if such things interest you.

To restore your Droid X to factory specs, navigate to Menu > Settings > Privacy, then select Factory Data Reset.

Once your phone is back to its pristine, out-of-the-box state (which can take up to 10 minutes), power your phone off.  Then hold the Home and Power buttons down at the same time.  This will boot the phone into Recovery Mode.  When you see the green android beside an exclamation triangle icon, press the Search hardware button below the screen on your Droid.  This will display a list of options, one of which is apply sdcard:update.zip.  Use the volume-down button to select this option and the camera button (right side red button) to execute it.

The files stored in the update.zip file will work their magic and upgrade the OS of the Droid X to Android OS 2.2.  This will take five to ten minutes.  When complete, you’ll see a message stating that the upgrade completed.  Press the Menu hardware button below the OK label. 

You’re done.  Froyo at last.

After the upgrade (or any factory reset), you’ll have to activate your phone again with the built-in utility.  This takes a couple of minutes.

We’ve installed the update to our Droid X as described above and everything went off without a hitch.  But, as is always the case with non-official upgrade procedures, be careful.   If you turn your Droid into a sleek paper weight, don’t blame MyDroidWorld (or us).  Try at your own risk.

Many thanks to everyone at MyDroidWorld.

This morning T-Mobile announced the upcoming G2 Android smartphone and posted a teaser site for the device.  The T-Mobile G2 will be the first handset from the wireless carrier to work with its growing HSPA+ “4G” data network.

Additional details about the G2 were absent the announcement. We know that the G2 will replace the aging G1, which was the first Android-powered phone on the U.S. market.  We also assume that, like the G1, the T-Mobile G2 will be built by HTC.

T-Mobile announced in July that its HSPA+ network upgrades would be deployed to serve 185 million people by the end of 2010.  Under perfect – but likely never-to-be-seen – conditions, the HSPA+ network can provide up to 21Mbps download speeds to handsets and wireless modems.

We’ll post more information on the G2 as it’s made available.

No big surprises to report, but today Verizon Wireless and Motorola made the Droid 2 Android smartphone official.  Available for $200 with a two-year contract, the Droid 2 will begin arriving in users’ hands Thursday.

The Droid 2 will ship with Android 2.2 ‘Froyo’ onboard, complete with OS-level mobile Wi-Fi hotpost functionality (this feature will cost $20 per month for 2GB of data).  Other features include a 1GHz TI OMAP 3630 processor (same as the Droid X), a slide-to-hide QWERTY keyboard, a 3.7-inch multitouch display, a 5MP camera, 8GB of onboard memory (plus an 8GB microSDHC memory card, expandable to 32GB), and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.

An R2-D2 special edition version of the Droid 2 will be sold online in September.  This version will include Star Wars content (details unknown) and an external hardware makeover with the lovable Star Wars droid in mind.

You can find the Droid 2 press release after the jump.

Learn more about the Motorola Droid 2 A955…

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and LIBERTYVILLE, Ill., Aug. 10 /PRNewswire/ — Verizon Wireless, the company with the nation’s largest and most reliable wireless 3G network, and Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), a pioneer in the mobile industry, today announced that DROID™ 2 by Motorola will be available for pre-sale on August 11. Hitting all the right keys, DROID 2 is a feature-packed device that helps manage work and social life with an enhanced QWERTY keyboard, ultra high-speed Web browsing, 3G Mobile HotSpot capabilities, full push corporate e-mail, intuitive social messaging and Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 for access to the full web – all built on Android 2.2.

Qualcomm began shipping its third generation, dual-core Snapdragon SoC CPUs to device manufacturers sometime around early June.  And, if new information published by AlienBabelTech is taken at face value, devices powered by these new processors are already well into the testing phase.

ABT reports discovering entries for an Android device labeled HTC Glacier  in an online database of GLBenchmark test results.  The benchmark scores show a marked increase in CPU performance  compared to high-end smartphones on the market today.  When compared to the Sprint EVO 4G, for example, which employs a 1GHz 2nd Gen Snapdragon, the Glacier’s CPU produced results that were about three times as fast.

Using comparative math, the poster at ABT seems to believe these benchmark scores come from a 1.5GHz Snapdragon rather than a 1.2GHz model (the 3rd Gen Snapdragon System-on-Chip platforms are available in both clock speeds).  You can review the calculations used to guess the speed of the CPU here.

Qualcomm has only fessed up to shipping 1.2GHz versions of the new Snapdragons thus far, and a jump of 200Mhz in smartphone processors seems more likely than a 500MHz jump. So I’m betting the HTC Glacier – or whatever it’ll be marketed as – will run the 1.2GHz MSM8260 rather than its 1.5GHz sibling.  I could be wrong, of course (here’s hoping).

So, what else is known about the Glacier other than its raw benchmark test results?  Not much.  But ABT supposes that it may be the star of T-Mobile’s Project Emerald, which promises a dual-core HTC Android smartphone.  There are other theories.