July 2010 Archives

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.

As for the video calling itself, it is not an Adobe product and will never be released as such.

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 light at the end of the tunnel.

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 as the original

As speculated last month, new reports seem to confirm that the D2 will ship with Android 2.2 (FroYo).

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 good sales could prompt releases in other markets.

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.

Image credit: Droid-Life

If you haven’t yet received your OTA update, I may have a possible reason why.

Jul

[Updated 7/22]: Cyanogen Mod Nightly For HTC EVO 4G Released

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in EVO 4G (Supersonic), Froyo 2.2, HTC, Mods, News

Last Updated: July 22nd, 2010

[Update – 7/22 7:45 AM EST]: The unrevoked root method doesn’t work with CM6 – you must either use Toast’s method or SimpleRoot. Thanks for posting up your results guys, keep them coming!]

Cyanogen, the biggest name in Android ROMs, has released their first FroYo ROM for the HTC EVO. While still a “nightly” build, many users are reporting it is very stable. However, as with most FroYo ROMs to day, there are a number of things that don’t work just yet – although it is the only FroYo ROM with working cameras.

The more significant issues right now:

No sense – it’s AOSP (stock Android) with ADW Launcher running over top
No 4G
Google Apps must be reinstalled
No FM Radio

There are a ton of smaller issues as well.

Jul

Samsung T-Mobile Vibrant, AT&T Captivate Galaxy S Series Phones Not Without Their Own Signal Problems: Major GPS Issues Emerge For Some

Posted by David Ruddock in Captivate, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, Vibrant

Can You Find Me Now?

A substantial thread on the XDA forums over GPS-related woes for people using the Samsung Galaxy S i9000 has left users of the device puzzled for nearly two weeks across Europe and Asia. Now, there are similar threads for the currently available American versions, the Vibrant and Captivate, that are quickly increasing in length as well.

So, what is this problem? The Galaxy S (for some users) has difficulty locking onto enough GPS satellites to maintain an accurate fix on the user’s position. This translates to unusable GPS car navigation apps, inaccurate map readings, and generally makes using any GPS-enabled application a less-than-enjoyable (and inaccurate) experience.

Jul

Analyst Says HTC EVO 4G Was Huge For Sprint’s Q2 Results – iPhone Was Good (And Bad) For AT&T’s

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, News, Sprint

While financial information may be a little outside the norm at AndroidPolice, this piece is pretty relevant. Deutsche Bank reiterated its “Buy” rating on Sprint this morning, based on Q2 expectations. The relevant part of their explanation:

Key reasons are the record-setting launch of the 4G EVO, which we believe resulted in 42% Year-over-Year growth in post paid gross adds, and further improvement in post paid churn [customer turnover] (2.05% est).

They think the EVO 4G led to 42% YoY growth – that’s incredible. We have yet to see any sales estimates for the EVO, but a reputable analyst is set to release a report (and matching tool) sometime very soon that will estimate each handset’s market cap.

Jul

Mr. Blurrycam Strikes Again – Mini Motorola Droid Spotted

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Not much to this other than the pictures, but it’s something. Images have popped up around the web showing an unnamed, previously-unknown slider device sporting a big blackberry-style keyboard. The trademark glowing red Droid eye is visible in one of the pictures, and the Motorola logo is visible in another (first and second images below, respectively).

Engadget is reporting this thing is real (rather than a cheap Chinese knock-off of some sort), and their track record is pretty good. Thus, chances are good that these are legitimate shots.

[Source: Engadget, Hiapk]

Jul

[Lava Hot] AT&T Samsung Captivate Deal: $0. That's Right - Free, As LetsTalk.com Beats Out All Competition Yet Again

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in AT&T, Captivate, News, Samsung, Tips

LetsTalk.com, an A+ BBB accredited online mobile phone store, killed it earlier this month when they announced their prices on T-Mobile's Samsung Vibrant and Motorola Droid X, beating out all competition.

With AT&T's newly released Samsung Captivate (Vibrant's 3-day younger brother), LetsTalk.com has outdone everyone else yet again - this is the best deal on Captivate you'll be able to find anywhere, offline or online: