June 2010 Archives

Jun

Toshiba Announces Android AC100 Smartbook, Promises 8 Hours Of Battery Life Under Full Load

Posted by Nate Kimmey in AC100, Devices By Manufacturer, News, Toshiba

Android may be used almost entirely on smartphones, but that hasn’t stopped companies from trying to use it on other devices. While Android hasn’t made a big impression on netbooks yet, the term “smartbook” has been used to describe devices with an emphasis on a strong battery life and being constantly connected, usually through 3G. And while smartbooks in the past have failed to materialize, Toshiba’s latest Android offering looks like the sweet spot between smartphones and laptops (and it is sweet indeed).

AC100 Specs

Called the AC100, this device is powered by a Tegra 250 1 GHz processor, ...

Jun

$149 Wi-Fi Nook Now On Sale, 3G Model Drops To $199, Kindle Follows Suit By Undercutting To $189

Posted by John Thompson in Barnes & Noble, Devices By Manufacturer, News, Nook

Barnes & Noble has announced a new, Wi-Fi only, version of the Nook today, offering a lower introductory price point next to the more expensive 3G model.

Available to buy from today, the new Wi-Fi model is available for just $149, over $100 cheaper than the original price of the 3G model. For that price, you’re still getting what’s essentially the same Nook as before, just without the 3G internet connection. In an attempt to rub salt into Amazon’s wounds, Barnes & Noble has also reduced the price of the 3G model to just $199.

Barnes & Noble's new price

...

Jun

[Giveaway] Vlingo Voice Control App Reviewed + We’ve Got 25 Licenses To Give Away!

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in App Reviews, Applications, Contests / Giveaways, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

The winners have been selected and contacted via email.

Enjoy your Vlingo licenses and look out for future AndroidPolice contests!

Living in Houston, you encounter some pretty horrendous traffic. Out of the 45 minutes I spend commuting(one way), about 20 are probably spent at a red light.

With all of that downtime it’s pretty tempting to reach over and check your latest email, or, if you’re like me, compulsively check the market for updates, but every time you do so, you’re risking injuring yourself, and those around you. We all know it’s dangerous to use the cell phone while driving, ...

Jun

Want Froyo On Your EVO 4G? Feeling Adventurous? Try EVOlutionV8 ROM

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Android OS, Carriers, EVO 4G (Supersonic), Froyo 2.2, HTC, Mods, News, Sprint

This article mentions rooting and the flashing of non-stock roms. If you’re unfamiliar with either term, hit up our primers here and here for additional information

As with most popular Android phones, a community of developers has cropped up over at xda-developers, who are dedicating their time and leet programming skills to ‘cooking’ and releasing improved ROMs for the EVO 4G.

In this case, developer Avalunchmods has released an overclockable version of Froyo for the EVO 4G, ported from the leaked Nexus One FRF72 release, and it seems like it’s nearly good enough to be a daily driver. The ...

Jun

PSA: How To Enable A New Updated Look For xda-developers.com Forums

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Tips

This is a short PSA for those of you who are xda-developers forum fans. I know there are quite a few, considering xda is leading the poll in this post Android Forum Roundup: Where Do You Go For Android Help And Discussion? Vote For Your Favorites.

Xda forum admins have been working on a new skin, to bring an updated look to a relatively mediocre (though so familiar) looking skin. You can test out the new skin by going to this url: http://forum.xda-developers.com/?styleid=16. This should set a cookie that overrides your current skin and temporarily sets it ...

Jun

CyanogenMod 5.0.8 Released With 720p Video Recording For The Nexus One

Posted by John Thompson in Devices By Manufacturer, Dream, Droid (Sholes), HTC, Magic, Mods, Motorola, News, Nexus One (Passion)

The latest version of the popular CyanogenMod has been released, offering bug fixes and various improvements over the previous version.

If you’ve never used the Cyanogen ROM before, you can read our full review and installation guide here.

Available to download for the Nexus One, Droid, Dream and Magic, CM 5.0.8 sees some great speed increases on older devices that were still a little sluggish under the previous version.

A particularly noticeable addition to 5.0.8 is ADW Launcher, a home replacement app, which is now included in the ROM by default. Accompanying this is 720p video recording support, ...

Jun

Android Forum Roundup: Where Do You Go For Android Help And Discussion? Vote For Your Favorites

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Carriers, Dev, Devices By Manufacturer, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile, Tips

Last Updated: July 11th, 2010

Where do you go when you have an Android related problem? Where do you hang out on a rainy day? Where does a good percentage of Android news originate from?

I'm talking about Android forums. Today, inspired by this reddit post, I wanted to highlight some of them and provide a list for people looking to ask questions, start an Android related conversation, report a problem, or just become part of another community (of course, you should always be close to Android Police by following us on twitter at @AndroidPolice and keeping up with the RSS feed).

Android ...

Jun

Latest Froyo Build For T-Mobile Nexus One Leaked (FRF72) – Now Available!

Posted by Ian Douglas in Dev, Froyo 2.2, News, Nexus One (Passion), T-Mobile, Tips, Tutorials

Discovery

Good thing for our readers that I’m a night owl, and I happen to love my Nexus One, and love me some frozen yogurt. Especially together:

And now I have my T-Mobile Nexus One updated with the latest and greatest FRF72 build.

I just happened to be browsing a forum about the upcoming official Android 2.2 Froyo release when I see someone leak a URL for the FRF72 build that Google Employees were given a week ago. Someone at xda-developers.com seems to be the original source.

Download URL and Instructions

Here’s the URL for the upgrade, while ...

Jun

Droid 2 Sneak Peak: First Impressions

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Droid 2, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

One of Gizmodo's readers Zack unexpectedly stumbled upon an upcoming Motorola Droid 2 at a tech show and didn't hesitate to snap some pictures and play around with this Droid successor.

Here are the main points of his review, in my favorite bullet point style, to save you some time:

about the same size as the original Droid
dark chrome overall color instead of the black
feels really nice - more curves, fewer edges
different button placement as the original, both on the outside and on the keyboard
blue coloring around the keyboard instead of gold
there is now a

...

Jun

Verizon Planning On Eliminating Unlimited Data Plans As Soon As This Year

Posted by John Thompson in Carriers, News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon subscribers: say goodbye to unlimited data on that internet hungry Android device of yours. According to Businessweek, Verizon is planning on following AT&T’s lead in replacing unlimited plans in favor of a tiered pricing structure.

In an interview with John Killian, chief financial officer of Verizon, it was clearly suggested that a new pricing structure will have to be put in to place, as data traffic increases with the rollout of 4G in the future.

We will probably need to change the design of our pricing where it will not be totally unlimited, flat rate

Verizon will be conscious ...

Jun

White HTC EVO 4G Coming Exclusively To Best Buy July 11th, Sprint Stores August 8th - Preorders Open Now

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, News, Sprint

Last Updated: July 11th, 2010

This was unexpected - Best Buy is offering exclusive preorders on a white version of the HTC EVO 4G, scheduled to arrive in Best Buy stores on July 11th. The white version is going to have the same specs and price of $199 on a 2-year contract. As usual, a $50 deposit in the form of a Best Buy gift card is required.

I am not sure personally that I would like the white version over the black one, but I guess some people expressed desire for one.

How about you guys? Which color do you prefer?

...

Jun

SysAdmin Series, Article #6: Network Tools And Whois Lookups

Posted by Ian Douglas in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews, Tips, Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

This SysAdmin Series article will cover four of my favorite tools as a sysadmin: two for analyzing network information, and one each for doing DNS lookups and Whois lookups on domain names. As with most apps I cover in my SysAdmin Series articles, I need to fully uninstall the app and wipe all prior data before demonstrating it here for you to protect my employer in case there’s any sensitive information lurking about. As such, don’t be too worried if apps with historical data appear relatively empty.

As a teaser for this weekend’s SysAdmin Series article, I’ll be analyzing a ...

Jun

BREAKING: European HTC Hero Android 2.1 (Eclair) Update Finally Rolls Out, Nordic Countries Are Up First

Updated: Not 2.1 Yet AGAIN. Another European HTC Hero Update Rolls Out (102MB), Nordic Countries Are Up First

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Eclair 2.1, Hero, HTC, News

Our chinned Hero brethren from Europe, it looks like your time has finally come - minutes ago, HTC posted a new update which finally brings the ~~long-awaited Android 2.1 to your Heroes, following a small update earlier this week which was released in preparation for the big one~~

Update 1: it's another 1.5 update, though at 102MB and requiring a wipe. We jumped the gun a bit - apologies for giving you false hope. Why HTC would post another 1.5 update this large and requiring a wipe, if 2.1 is expected soon, which would require yet another wipe, is ...

Jun

Gang Up On Apple And Win One Of 5 Free Android Phones, Including The EVO 4G [Contest]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News

Want to lay your hands on a new Android phone? For free? For creatively beating on Apple's iPhone?

Well, you are in luck, as WireFly.com is giving out 5 Android phones of your choice, including the EVO 4G, for comparing an Android phone to the iPhone, specifically, the ways the former can beat the latter.

The contest ends June 28th, when 5 most creative answers, as decided by the in-house judges, win. Unfortunately, it seems like only US residents can participate (thanks bsu).

There is public voting visible, but it doesn't affect the results - everyone is downvoting everything ...

Jun

Understatement: T-Mobile Does An Amazing Ninja Act With HSPA+ Rollout

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Carriers, News, T-Mobile

Last Updated: July 21st, 2010

T-Mobile announced today that 25 new markets are coming online for their “3G” HSPA+ network. Seems like no biggie, right - the other 3 big dogs (Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint) all know that 3G is so 2008.

Wrong. This isn’t any old 3G network – current tests show speeds anywhere from the same as, to 4 times faster than, WiMax – and T-Mobile’s only rocking HSPA+ 21 Mbps. HSPA+ has recently been demonstrated at speeds of 84 Mbps. For comparison, my home DSL runs at 1.5 Mbps (yea – the 4G on my phone is faster than that). Not ...