HTC HD2 Android Port Going Faster Than The Speed Of Love (???)

July 12, 2010 | By WenWP

It’s no question that many people have been asking for an Android port for their HD2, well it seems the Htc_Linux team is giving you it all at a fast speed. If you are not a follower of the leader, you will not know about the progress they have been having. In less than a week they have achieved many things, things that take other porting teams two or more to do. This speed is very surprising because just a little more than a month ago, having Android on the HD2 was impossible.

Here are the most recent achievements.

06/30/2010 zImage build with touchscreen, keypad, usb-host mode posted in build section.
06/30/2010 First version of Ubuntu for HD2 released in the Build section
07/01/2010 android with sense for HD2 in Build section
07/04/2010 sensors working – (compass, G, light, proximity) – code available in git. See Build section for set of files to test. zImage in Advanced section updated. Thanks for the patch go to Parad0XUA
07/05/2010 Vibro working too. Code pushed, zImage updated.
07/05/2010 LeTama added WiFi support. Patch and Build following
07/08/2010 Timers updated in htc-msm-2.6.32 kernel
link to frequently updated kernel (zImage) autobuilds in advanced builds section added
new wiki page with detailed status info http://htc-linux.org/wiki/index.php?title=Leo/Status
07/10/2010 initial testing with 3g data connection, WiFi patches in git soon.
07/10/2010 Source code for 3g data connection and WiFi are available from git now
07/11/2010 New extra smooth android kit with the most recent Linux Kernel available in Android section! This has all kinds of stuff like hardware 3d acceleration, bluetooth, WiFi and 3g data connection included.

You can download the latest version with Sense here

About Wen M

Working for WMPU is awesome. Love to write personal articles, and I do it very often. I am the reviewing editor (self appointed), so you will see alot of reviews and giveaways from me. I own quite a few devices not just Windows Phone but Android and others. I live in Minnesota, USA and love traveling to other places.

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Tagged Android 2.1, htc hd2, port, sense

http://intensedebate.com/people/simbadogg simbadogg

well, its good to see this is coming through. i was really thinking about buying an at&t captivate (galaxy s) off contract depending on the price to hold me over before they get a good WP7 phone, but this may be more enticing for me if i can find a Telsus HD2 for a good price.

Jos Dewey

Telus doesn't sell the HD2…

http://intensedebate.com/people/simbadogg simbadogg

telstra

Peter

And who cares about Android on HD2?

HD2 is HD2 because it is Windows Mobile otherwise it wasn't this great. Post these articles in Android fanboys blogs please!

Jos Dewey

Wow, we have ourselves a world-class Microsoft fanboy here guys.

Why wouldn't you want Android to be ported to the HD2? It doesn't take anything away from the HD2's greatness, it just makes it able to do more and be more flexible. The ability to dual-boot just makes it a better and geekier phone.

Only a fanboy with their head stuck in a really smelly orifice would see this as a bad thing for the HD2.
http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

I care.

WM is a dead-end; I don't like it but it is.

WP7 isn't for me; I don't like it but it isn't.

Android will bring new life to my HD2.

I want the best phone with the best OS and software. RIght now that means walking away from Microsoft.

How about a poll asking whether people would prefer to flash Android or WP7 to their existing phone?

http://intensedebate.com/people/WMPerson Wen(WM)

Good idea, ill make a post/poll about that sometime soon.
KennyB123

This website is called WINDOWS MOBILE Power User. Do you really think that the majority of people here would prefer Android over WP7 on their HD2? I would argue that a MAJORITY of power users purchased the HD2 SPECIFICALLY because they were hoping WP7 would arrive for it.

*sigh*

http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

I was one of those hoping WM7 would get onto my HD2. Then there was no WM7, and WP7 wasn't for me.

I don't think most people choose their mobile OS based on whether it has the word Windows in it. WP7 is a complete departure from WM6 and therefore Android is just as valid a choice as WP7.

Most of the users here came here for WM. Arguably Android is closer to WM than WP7 is, especially if you look at why many of us chose WM over, say, the iPhone.

By the way writing *sigh* doesn't make you seem as superior as you think it does.

Jos Dewey

Yeah, agreed on all accounts.

WP7 is nothing like WM6… remove the Microsoft in the product's name, and Android seems an entirely closer experience to classic Windows Mobile than this WP7 locked down garbage.
KennyB123

I do see where you are coming from. For me, there are enough elements of WP7 that make it worth giving a shot. None of us have seen the finished product yet.

I freaking love my Zune HD, and having it on my phone, with live streaming of any song I want at any time is pretty freaking awesome. That alone does it for me. The video podcasts on a 4.3 inch screen is also quite intriguing.

To add what looks to be a nice office suite, a very slick interface for games, and some very good looking apps in development, and I think WP7 will work for me.

I do understand, however, the loss of true "power user" options at the get-go. I am just hoping that the same community who gets me a WP7 ROM also "jailbreaks" it soon after.

*sigh* =-P
http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

Are you sighing or has your girlfriend got a puncture?

I agree there's jail-breaking to look forward to. My problem with jail-breaking is that commercial software won't be written to take advantage of the unlocked functionality. Yes there's software XDA-Devs, but I'd like commercial software too.

Metro may be a great UI; I don't know yet. However functionality matters far more to me than the UI. That's why I ditched Sense and went for SPB Mobile Shell.

Perhaps in a few years they'll have the power options back and I'll return to MS; I'm not the type to buy into one OS or one manufacturer and never consider changing. That's exactly why I'm now interested in getting Android on my HD2.
nuke1

Man, are you screwed in the head? Like it or not, this site is about WM, not Android, and if WM is changing direction, then this site has to take that direction by its very definition.

Now, why don't you GTFOH and get yourself signed up at phandroid.com.

*sigh*

P.S. A poll by this site is like this site stabbing itself in the foot. Do some of the editors have so much autonomy so as to pen the destruction of this site? Looks like professionalism is a thing of the past when it comes to this site's antics.
http://www.facebook.com/Bugblatter Bug Blatter

Actually the editors on this site have been very forthright about their opinions of WP7. They've become less critical over time but I think they still try to be unbiased towards it.

Obviously it's the future for their site, but that doesn't mean that they'll ignore its faults. Even Wen's talking about defecting. That's not a betrayal; at the end of the day we want the best phones for our particular needs regardless of who makes them.
malnoh

I was too hope a WM7 upgrade…

Now my HD2 has returned for repairs for the fifth time, I think even this Android cover may not save the little love I still have for that amazing screen… ^_^

I may turn to the dark i-side if they cannot fix my HD2 this time… o.0

quietman

HD2 was great because it's specs were and still are great. Getting Android onto it just makes it even better. I'm following this development very closly. This is the sort of development that made WM6.X / WM6.5.x so great until MS killed it for Wp7. Spec wise only the EVO 4G is better , but EVO isnt available outside the US. The best Android phone here is the Desire , which I have too , but I miss the massive HD2 screen for some things. I currently carry both my HD2 and Desire….

VIW

same feeling here… I carry around a HD2 and a Milestone. Once you start using a modern OS it's very hard to want to move back to WM, with the lack of decent new apps and constant vigilance needed just to ensure some dodgy app doesn't freeze / hang the phone.

Using the Milestone made me realise what made WM great – it was HTC's Sense interface (and of course, the XDA community). If I wasn't using a HD2 for my WM experience I probably would have jumped ship a loooong time ago.

calvano915

The link posted for download is a different project than the article is about. People should search XDA for the discussion thread of HTC_Linux for the correct download. The sense build is a good one to know about…but I trust the other devs on xda a lot more…
http://intensedebate.com/people/chinch chinch

This blog entry gets my vote for worst of the month. Congrats that really says something.

Maybe you can start a short-attention-span-droid-fanboy blog please and leave this tripe out of WMP. Unless you are simply more concerned with banner ad impressions than content (my guess).
http://www.facebook.com/J88NYR Jonny Rose

When its properly sorted, I will give it ago, but I will probably end up going back to WM6.5. I likw WM6.5 and all my apps that I regularly use are on WM6.5.
http://twitter.com/willgilliland @willgilliland

I've tried most all the Android versions to date, except for the v3 Desire that just got posted. With a fast micrSD card (I've got a class 10 4Gig), it's actually usable. Only two deal breakers remain: no mic and no bluetooth. Most everything else works.

I had to flash a new rom and radio to get the Android to work, but it was WELL worth it. I expect a completely stable, hardward accelerated version by the end of the month. Shortly thereafter, expect to be able to flash it to main ROM and give up on WinMo 6.x.