July 2010 Archives

Jul

How The Mighty Has Fallen – The DROID X Has Been Rooted!

Posted by Ron Hamelin in Droid X (Shadow), Mods, News, Verizon Wireless

This article discusses rooting your device. THIS BREACHES [VOIDS] THE TERMS OF YOUR PHONE’S WARRANTY AND YOUR VERIZON SERVICE CONTRACT. Proceed at your own risk.

For those of you who have been wondering if the Droid X would ever be rooted, you can all breathe a collective sigh of relief. The folks over at AllDroid just posted that Verizon’s biggest and baddest Android device has been rooted!

So those of you new to Android and/or the DROID X, you might wonder what this “rooting” business is all about. We have published an article just for you: Rooting Explained + Top ...

Jul

2x Tips: A Brilliantly Easy Way To Generate QR Codes In A Split Second... And An Even More Brilliant Way To Do It Even Faster

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Tips

In today's Android-enabled world, QR codes play quite an important role because, face it, who wants to type that long, pesky URL on your phone's keyboard when you can just quickly scan an image and have the URL decoded in a split second?

Why do I say with such confidence that QR codes are now a commodity? Have a look at this awesome chart AppBrain posted yesterday. See Barcode Scanner, whose primary purpose is to scan QR codes? A whopping 63.8% of Android users have it installed on their phones - in fact it's the #3 most installed application. ...

Jul

The Race To App Store Quality

Posted by Andrew Gould in Applications, Editorials

Ever since Apple released its App Store on the (then) iPhone OS 2.0, a special emphasis has been placed on the quantity of apps. As other app markets arrived, the same metric of success carried over. The platform creators used the quantity of applications as a way to convince critics that their platform was popular and thriving and that prospective buyers could take comfort in the platform they were investing money.

Fast forward to 2010. The app market model has proved crucial in this smartphone arms race and Google itself just announced 70,000 applications in the Android Market. That’s great! ...

Jul

Google Helping U.S. Army To Launch Missiles From Their Phones

Posted by Andrew Gould in Google, HTC, Motorola

Smartphones are already commonly used in most workplaces, and now the folks at Google are working with military contractors to equip G.I. .Joes. Reuters is reporting that Google, Motorola and HTC have been working along side Raytheon, markers of the Patriot missile defense system, to develop software which could allow a soldier on the battlefield to gain important information via an Android OS device.

According to Raytheon, Google has helped push the limits of the phone and integrate features such as detailed satellite imagery, unmanned drone video and even tap into the Patriot missile system itself. This software could certainly ...

Jul

Samsung Galaxy S Continues World Takeover, Headed To Rogers

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Galaxy S, News, Rogers

The Samsung Galaxy S has already invaded Canada by launching on Bell, but Samsung wasn’t content with just one carrier. Rogers Wireless has been confirmed to be receiving its own version of the Galaxy S, set for release some time this September.

There’s no word as to what version of the Galaxy S will hit Rogers, as there are a plenty of variations, some with LED Flash, some with a front-facing camera, and the Galaxy S Pro, which includes a physical keyboard. No matter the version, it will still include the usual TouchWiz UI, 4” Super AMOLED screen, and ...

Jul

HTC EVO 4G Owners, Here's A Battery Tip For You: 2 Extra 1500mAh Batteries + Battery Charger For $10, AndroidPolice Tested And Approved

Updated: HTC EVO 4G, Hero, Incredible Owners, Here's A Battery Tip For You: 2 Extra 1500mAh Batteries + Battery Charger For $10, AndroidPolice Tested And Approved

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

Last Updated: July 23rd, 2010

EVO 4G is notorious for its battery problems - they've been plaguing the phone since before it even came out. I personally don't think the battery life is too drastically different from the Hero, for instance, but it's still pretty bad. Chances are that if you want to last through the day, you won't.

Update #1: These fit the HTC Hero too! (Thanks to @xMPoly for the tip)

Update #2: Fit the Droid Incredible perfectly as well! I wonder if it's good for all HTC phones.

There are countless battery tips out there, most of which either ...

Jul

Nexus One Officially Sold Out On Google Web Store

Posted by Andrew Gould in Froyo 2.2, Google, Nexus One (Passion)

As we warned was imminent, the Nexus One is no longer available directly from Google, as supplies have been exhausted. Google.com/phone has been replaced with a simple message directing customers to a help center article outlining carriers that supply the device. Carriers will continue to sell the device until their own stocks are depleted.

The Nexus One online experiment was considered a flop by most, but the phone’s hardware was a huge step forward for Android at the time and ignited a flurry of powerful, high-end Android phones that followed in its wake. It is still the only phone officially ...

Jul

Cellular South HTC Hero Finally Gets Updated To Android 2.1

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Eclair 2.1, Hero, News

If you happen to be an HTC Hero owner on Cellular South, today is your lucky day – an update to Android 2.1 is now available for you to download. Unfortunately, it’s not the easy an over-the-air update - you’ll have to download it yourself and wipe all your data (factory reset) – but, in my opinion, it still beats running Cupcake. The update includes the following features:

Picture and video messaging capabilities [Pics feature required]
Android Market™ with access to latest 2.1 apps
Turn-by-Turn Google Navigation
Preloaded Facebook™ app with
enhanced Facebook sync
Preloaded YouTube™ app
Enhanced

...

Jul

LG Ally Update On Verizon Brings Numerous Improvements, But No Froyo

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Ally (Aloha), News, Verizon Wireless

Although no one expected the LG Ally to be the next phone to receive a push to Android 2.2, the announcement of an Ally update really got our hopes up. Still, it’s better than nothing. So, what changes does this update bring Ally users? Check them out below, straight from Verizon’s support page:

Improvements:
+ Increased QWERTY keyboard operability.
+ Streamlined alert functions.
+ Improved usability with alert sounds for authentication or
confirmation of Bluetooth® functions.
+ Increased speed and response time for Messaging and
Camera applications.
Enhancements:
+ Manage your schedule with preloaded Corporate
Calendar application.
+ Improved

...

Jul

Rumor: Android/WebOS Phones To Be Allowed On Sprint SERO Plans After October 1st, 2010

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Sprint

A rumor is going around, supposedly confirmed by multiple sources within Sprint, that the Sprint's infamous SERO employee referral plan is going to start accepting Android and WebOS phones come October 1st. It is currently not possible to use these devices if you belong to SERO; this has been a long-standing woe of many SERO users wanting a piece of the Android action.

For those who have never heard of SERO, in short, it's a discounted plan, available via an employee referral but widely available to anyone able to google, read, and browse through a few pages of a an

...

Jul

Power Of Adobe Air Demonstrated With Video Calling On Android

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

Adobe has given us a nice taste of what Air is capable of. Using the upcoming version 2.5, Adobe developer Mark Doherty created a demo of video calling on Android on two Nexus Ones, which he cleverly called “FlashTime” (a not-so-subtle jab at Apple’s FaceTime.)

Doherty tells us that Air 2.5 adds support for many features, including use of cameras and microphones on a device, and that the Android version is on par feature-wise with its desktop equivalent; however, though these features are “working,” he also tells us that they may not make it into the final release of Air....

Jul

AndroidCentral Cooks Up A Program To Install Off-Market Apps To Devices That Can't (Cough AT&T Cough) - No Root Required

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Apps/Games, Devices By Manufacturer, Mods, News

Normally, to sideload (install from outside the official market) an Android app, you need to enable the "Unknown sources" option in Settings > Applications, then copy the app anywhere on the SD Card, and install it via a file manager, such as Astro.

Unless, of course, a certain entity removes the whole option altogether, making it impossible to install off-Market apps unless you root. Aria, Backflip, Captivate, X10 all have this problem. There was a workaround with HTC Sync that "mistakenly" allowed sideloading, but that hole was patched by HTC shortly after.

However, there is ...

Jul

Motorola Droid 2 Launches August 12 With FroYo (And… R2-D2?)

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Droid 2, Froyo 2.2, News, Verizon Wireless

All kinds of Droid 2 news floating around the interwebs the past few days. We already knew it was coming in August and replacing the original Droid, we caught some blurrycam shots a little over a month ago, and Gizmodo caught a hands on a week later. In case you’ve been AFK for the last few months, it will slot in just below the Droid X:

5 MP Camera
3G Mobile Hotspot
1 GHz CPU
8 GB onboard memory
8 GB mSD card installed, support for up to 16 GB
Dark chrome color (rather than black)
Roughly the same size

...

Jul

Lenovo Plans Android Tablet To Compete With iPad In China

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Lenovo, News

Lenovo has a strong name in China, and hasn’t faced much competition from Apple there. In fact, they’ve even mocked Apple about “wasting” their presence in the enormous market. However, as the iPad is set for release in Hong Kong this Friday – and is expected to be fully available in China soon – Lenovo plans on stepping up their game and challenging Apple with an Android tablet.

Other than the fact the tablet (the “LePad”) will run Android, no real specs have been revealed. However, it was confirmed that the tablet would launch exclusively in China at first, and ...

Jul

The Current Droid Incredible OTA Update Situation - Froyo Is Coming

Posted by Ron Hamelin in Android OS, Droid Incredible, Froyo 2.2, News, Verizon Wireless

Many blogs and websites have reported over the past several days that an OTA update was coming for the Droid Incredible which included the following updates:

720p video recording (sweeeeeeet!)
Verizon’s mobile hotspot app
Integrated Skype app
Cool new “Droid” boot animation

For the record, I’ve had my Incredible since the beginning of May and have seen only one minor update (update 1) since then. Apparently, this most recent OTA was a "rolling" update and was supposed to hit Incredible owners over the last week or so.