Those mad tinkerers at iFixit have torn apart the drool-worthy EVO 4G for Sprint (NYSE: S) and, while there’s nothing shocking about what’s inside, it’s good to know what you’re getting.

A few of the interesting takeaways are:

* Removing the glass is not terribly difficult. This is great news for those unfortunate enough to drop their shiny phone and crack the glass.

* Like most reasonable phones, changing the Evo’s battery is a snap. All you have to do is remove the back cover and unplug the battery.

* The 3.7 V, 1500 mAh rechargeable Li-ion battery contains 23% more capacity than an iPhone 3GS, 15% more than a Droid Incredible, and 7% more than a Nexus One.

* Look out! There’s a liquid damage indicator on the battery’s top edge — a first that we’ve seen. Of course, you can just replace the battery if you douse the EVO in water. There are other liquid damage indicators on the phone, however, so you can’t fool the manufacturer that easily.

During the Google I/O conference a few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to snag an EVO and it was perfect timing because my Droid met an untimely end. I’ve been playing with it for a while now and will give you my initial impressions but be on the lookout for a thorough review shortly.

The screen is obviously the star of the show here, as the 4.3-inch display is massive and gorgeous. Browsing is a dream on this bigger screen and I’ve probably watched more videos with the EVO 4G in a week than I did in six months with the Droid. It’s responsive to touch but I find HTC’s keyboard to be quite ugly. It definitely works but it’s not a pretty sight.

Like the Droid Incredible on Verizon (NYSE: VZ), the EVO 4G uses HTC’s Sense UI and rocks a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor. These two make actions silky smooth on the device and the custom UI layer adds visual panache without sacrificing performance. Sprint’s 4G isn’t lit up in my neck of the woods, so I didn’t get a chance to test one of the coolest features on this smartphone, sadly.

Unfortunately, the battery life on this thing is absolute garbage. The EVO 4G can barely get through 9 hours near my desk without dying and this is with very light usage. I can’t rely on it for a full day (or even a 9-5 day) on a single charge and that could be a deal breaker. One thing’s for sure: the EVO 4G is a great smartphone but be sure to invest in extra chargers.

It’s basically a ritual now: Fresh feature debuts on new Android phone; hack-happy G1 owners see new feature, develop seething jealousy; said owners work tirelessly to steal new feature. Last week, Google Maps Navigation hit the Droid. Today, the G1.

Google Maps Navigation will be part of Android 2.0, and Android 2.0 is expected to come to most—if not all—Android handsets on the market eventually, so given how complicated this hack is (fairly!), and that it requires a rooted phone, it’d be prudent for most folks to just wait this out. That said, there’s no saying how long it’ll be until Eclair seeds out to older handsets, and there’s no guarantee that the G1—and old fart in its little corner of the universe—will ever get it. Anyhow, here’s what you need to do, from XDA:

Download here

Make sure you have CyanogenMod 4.2.3.1, by the way.

1) Unzip zip to desktop
2) Run Part 1.bat
3) When prompted to press any key, do so; the phone will reboot
4) When your phone is running again, run Part 2.bat
5) When prompted to press any key, the installation process is done.
6) Make sure GPS is enabled
7) Open Maps and press OK
Press Menu
9) Press Directions
10) Enter an end point
11) Click Go
12) Just under “Show on map”, click Navigate.
13) When prompted to install the voice codec, do so.

And there you have it: Free, not terrible turn-by-turn navigation for your G1, without Android 2.0. Early reports say it runs well; let us know how it goes for you in the comments.

Read the headline? It’s not just the “Moto Droid thing” only – the good ol’ G1 can also be used for turn-by-turn navigation provided by Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Maps, thanks to the ever active XDA development community. Of course, we’re not talking about the official ROM update, but something that requires a little effort, yet delivers great benefits.

We’re hearing once the process of upgrading/hacking the G1 is completed, Google Maps Navigation runs smoothly giving us hope if HTC does nothing about it, Google will. Are you reading this folks? Please make sure your old customers aren’t forgotten.

[Via: Engadget Mobile]

While the tech-loving world continues to debate the merits of the Droid following its launch on Friday, it’s pretty safe to say that the Android platform has seen a pretty hefty influx of users as of late. In the past two weeks alone, we’ve seen the aforementioned Droid, it’s cheaper, younger sibling, the Droid Eris, and the Sprint Moment all hit the shelves; if any of them sold even reasonably well, there’s a lot of new folk cracking open the Android Market for the first time right now.

Whether you’re an iPhone convert, an ex-Nokian, or just a stranger to smartphones as a whole, the Android Market can be a pretty daunting place. While Android might not have quite as many apps as the leading competition, it still has a bit over 10,000 – and that’s a hell of a lot for any newcomer to weed through.

For the sake of these nascent newbies, we’ve thrown together a list of a handful of apps we think are worth checking out right off the bat. Got a favorite of your own? Throw it into the comments below.

In no particular order:

Twidroid
What is it?: Twitter Client
Price: Free; “Pro” version available for around €3.39 (around $5)
Description: We’re seeing more and more Twitter clients hit the Android Market as of late, but Twidroid still seems to be the crowd favorite. The free version offers up all the basics (Tweeting, mentions, DM, search, image uploading, etc.), while the Pro version adds video, multi-accounts, and theming support.

Qik/Ustream/Bambuser/etc.
What is it? Video Streaming
Price: Free
Description: The plethora of video streaming applications on Android serves as a fantastic example of the strengths of Android’s open market. While such video streaming clients have been floating around in Apple’s moderation queue for over a year now (and are still only available on jailbroken iPhones), they were made available on Android almost immediately after launch. There are a ton of options available here – I’d recommend starting with Qik or Ustream.

Flyscreen
What is it? Lockscreen replacement
Price: Free
Description: You see that lockscreen each and every time you pull your phone out of your pocket – might as well put it to use, right? Flyscreen replaces the default lockscreen with a user-customizable canvas for widgets, with everything from Twitter to TMZ. It’s a wee bit buggy on the Droid, primarily because of its high resolution – but the Flyscreen guys have already confirmed that an update is on the way.

Nesoid
What is it? NES emulator
Price: $1.99, Lite version available
Description: It’s an NES emulator, and it works damn well – do we really need to say anything else? For obvious legal reasons, you’ll need to provide your own ROMs – but once that’s out of the way, it’ll handle just about any popular NES game you can throw at it. We’ve heard mixed reports as to how well this (primarily the Lite version) is working on Android 2.0, but I’m not seeing any issues with the paid version.

Meridian
What is it? Media player
Price: Free
Description: As we mentioned in our Smartphone Showdown, media playback (especially video) on the Android platform is rather lacking. We’ve yet to find any third-party applications that really pull it off well, but the Meridian player is about the best we’ve seen so far. It’ll play back MP3, OGG, MP4, and 3GPP files, and offers up basic playlist and gesture support. It’s pretty dang ugly, but it gets the job done.

Flixster:
What is it? Movie times/trailers/DVD info aggregator
Price: Free
Description: Flixster does one thing, and it does it well: Movies. It keeps you up to date on everything new in the movie world, be it for the box office or the rental store, complete with movie times (by way of GPS), community-driven user reviews, and trailers. Flixster is one of the most well-designed applications I’ve seen on the Android platform, and is one of very few I find myself using regularly.

Barcode Reader:
What is it? Its.. a barcode reader.
Price: Free
Description: Barcode reader is pretty much an Android must-have at this point. Lets say you’re perusing a book store and stumble across a book you’re interested in reading – but is it really worth what the nearest big chain book store wants for it? Scan the tag on the back into Barcode Reader, which will pass the details into Google Product Search for a price comparison. At worst, you’ll find out that you’re getting a deal; at best, you’ll save a ton. I’ve saved a few hundred bucks overall by way of Barcode-based comparison shopping.

TED
What is it? Tons of amazing content, crammed into one app.
Price: Free
Description: This one serves as our reader’s choice app, so to speak. I reached out to my Twitter posse for some insight on their favorite apps, and the TED application was a resoundingly popular result. The Android TED application brings together a huge number of lectures from the annual Technology, Entertainment, Design conference, with talks from the likes of Bill Gates, Bill Clinton, Larry Page, and more. Next time you’ve got 10-15 minutes free, why not spend it gettin’ some smarts?

3Banana
What is it? Notes syncing
Price: Free
Description: Sign up for a free account, then punch your credentials into both the Android client and your browser. Bam, note syncing! It’s not a substitute for a full-fledged file syncing service like Dropbox, but 3banana is a drop-dead easy way to keep your notes/images synced between your Android handset and your computer.

Power Manager
What is it? Battery life assistant
Price: $0.99, Lite version available
Description: While it’s getting better over time, the Android platform isn’t exactly known for its killer battery efficiency. Android allows users to run apps in the background – and a running application gobbles up battery, whether it’s visible or not. Power manager helps to improve your device’s battery life through profiles. Running on the battery? Dim the screen. Battery down below 30%? Kill the WiFi and the Bluetooth. The free version comes with 4 profiles (Battery powered, low battery, A/C powered, USB powered), while the 99 cent pro version allows you to build you own.

Know any apps that Android users ought to check out on day one?

Hello there, HD2. To be honest, it’s a bit soon in our relationship to be seeing all your inner workings — not that we mind. The folks on the xda-developers forums have done the duty of tearing down HTC’s impressively skinned Windows Mobile 6.5 device. Not much to glean from the snapshots, but if you do harbor some strange technologically-inclined curiosity and would never consider ripping up the phone yourself, hit up the read link for more pictures.

[Via Pocketnow]

HTC has released a new firmware upgrade for its once flagship Touch Diamond2 smartphone. As expected, the latest software version packs Windows Mobile 6.5 and it’s available for select European countries at the moment. Following firmware versions are available:

• Germany: 2.16.407.1
• Denmark: 2.16.403.1
• United Kingdom: 2.16.405.4
• Sweden: 2.16.413.1
• Norway: 2.16.409.1
• Portugal: 2.16.410.1

Before you push the trigger, make sure to backup all your data. Once you did that, hop over to this page at HTC’s website and follow instructions provided on the screen.

[Via: WMexperts]