August 2010 Archives

Aug

Froyo Root For HTC EVO 4G Released

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

Last Updated: December 15th, 2010

This method is majorly out of date. Generally, every update breaks the current root method, and a new one must be found. By now, this is 3-4 cycles old. Please check XDA-Developers forums or unrevoked for alternate (and current) methods.

This one is sure to make plenty of people happy: it looks like there's finally a root method for the latest EVO OTA. The method was discovered by XDA-Devs user Dan Wager and is based on Sebastian Krahmer's Droid 2 root - although this seems to achieve root by downgrading to Android 2.1 and flashing unrevoked. Just like ...

Aug

T-Mobile G2 Running On New MSM7X30 Chipset: Native 720P 30FPS Recording And Playback, Better 3D Performance And More

Posted by David Ruddock in Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, G2 (Vision), HTC, T-Mobile

Last Updated: August 27th, 2010

Based on a tweet by Cyanogen, the G2 isn't going to be sporting another rehash of the Snapdragon family of chipsets that has come to dominate HTC devices for the past 6 months.

You may remember back in November of 2009 (or maybe not, I didn't) that Qualcomm demoed an updated family of chipsets for mobile multimedia devices. The name of that chipset is the remarkably catchy MSM7X30 (really has a ring to it, no?), and it's bringing a little more to the table than its predecessors.

We already knew the G2 would be shipping with HSPA+ connectivity (the ...

Aug

[Updated] Primo Battery Cube Review: Extra Juice On The Go + Giveaway

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Contests / Giveaways, Other Reviews, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, Engadget ran a piece on a new product from a company called Phonesuit aimed at smartphone users with MiniUSB and MicroUSB charging ports (this should cover every Android phone as far as I know). Shortly after Engadget's piece, we were contacted by Phonesuit and offered a review unit, which we gladly accepted.

This contest is now over. We have selected the winners - see if you are one of them towards the bottom of the page.

What Exactly Is PrimoCube?

Primo Battery Cube, or just PrimoCube, is a $40 device that attaches to your ...

Aug

Motorola Charm Now Available On T-Mobile: $0 On Wirefly With New Contract, $50 On Upgrade

Posted by David Ruddock in CHARM, Motorola, News, T-Mobile

Today, T-Mobile announced that the Motorola Charm is now available, and the pricing options out there in the wild are a bit confusing to say the least.

Wirefly currently has the best deal - you can get the Charm for $0 on a new T-Mobile 2-year contract priced at $59.99 a month. But, if you're a current T-Mobile customer, unless you plan on terminating your current contract, you'll have to fork over $50 and renew your agreement.

Oddly, Wirefly's price for the unsubsidized device is $329.99 which is $60 more than T-Mobile's. Both American retailers are also being undercut by ...

Aug

HTC EVO 4G Car Dock Finally Hits Sprint Stores - Priced at $59.99, Charger Not Included

Posted by David Ruddock in EVO 4G (Supersonic), News

Over 2 months after the HTC EVO 4G became available to Sprint customers nationwide, HTC has finally made available its official EVO 4G "car upgrade kit." What does it include? When you open the box, you'll find the actual phone "dock" which uses the EVO's micro-USB port to provide power to the phone, as well as the windshield-mountable platform/base. You'll probably also find a lengthy warranty and instruction document of some sort (sorry if we spoiled the surprise).

Take note, no car charger or USB cable is included with this "kit" - they must be purchased separately. There are some ...

Aug

Mark DeLoura Leaves Post As Google's Game Developer Advocate

Posted by Andrew Huff in Dev, Games, News

Mark DeLoura, who was hired by Google about 5 months ago to fill the much-needed position of Games Developer Advocate, just announced he has left the company. This marks the second big name to leave Google's gaming department (Games at Google) this summer.

The reason for Mark's departure from Google? It wasn't a perfect fit for him - or at least that his story and he's sticking to it! In the official announcement on his blog, Mark wrote:

"I enjoyed working with many of the people there, but it was not the perfect fit for me."

Mark also spoke about ...

Aug

Motorola Droid 2 Rooted

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Droid 2, Mods, News, Verizon Wireless

Looks like a dev over at XDA-Devs (where else?) has managed to root the Motorola Droid 2. As this is the device's first root and it was just released, it's not surprising that the method is still dependant on manually typing a number of commands. The process requires adb and Motorola drivers to be installed, and involves pushing and executing the root file with ADB. While it doesn't look overly complex, it's probably not something suitable for more novice rooters.

Setup:
- Install adb (here) and Motorola drivers (here)
- Download attached archive
- Extract

...

Aug

Deal Alert: Move Over, Vibrant - AT&T Samsung Captivate Now Also A Penny On Amazon.com For New Customers

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

Remember the $0.01 Samsung Vibrant deal Amazon put up last week in response to T-Mobile's $99.99 sale? After running for a few days, the promotion ran out (the Vibrant is now $69.99), only to be replaced by another one, this time for AT&T customers.

That's right, the Samsung Captivate now costs a cool 1 penny for new accounts and comes with a free activation and 2-day shipping. This is the best deal on this phone to date, and it will probably last only a few days, judging by how long it took the Vibrant deal to vaporize.

Hit up ...

Aug

Motorola Droid 2 Review: A Bit Of Makeup But Not A Complete Makeover

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid (Sholes), Droid 2, Droid X (Shadow), Froyo 2.2, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: October 22nd, 2011

General Overview

The original Droid was a revolutionary phone, not just because it saved Motorola from certain bankruptcy but also because it revealed the wonders of Android to the masses.

For the first time, an Android device was being marketed in a way that appealed to an average American. Not only that - the Droid was Google’s officially anointed Jesus phone, up until the Nexus One came along, meaning it was the first to get Android 2.0, the first to get Google Navigation, etc.

That sets a pretty high bar for the Droid 2, and if you read our review ...

Aug

Google Finance Website Gets Mobile: Revamped For Android (And A Certain Other Mobile Operating System)

Posted by David Ruddock in News

Google's Mobile blog (as well as their Finance blog) announced an update to the Google Finance mobile webpage on your Android (or... iOS) smartphone. The changes certainly aren't subtle: Google has streamlined finance to appear very similar to all the in-browser Google mobile web-apps. As an Android user, you may be asking why Google bothered - there's already a Google Finance app on the Android Market. The answer? The website, simply put, is just a lot more awesome.

And on the Froyo browser, it's also a lot more responsive and smoother than the Finance app. What's not to love?...

Aug

New In The Android Market: Guns'n'Glory By HandyGames - Time To Go Rob Some Settlers!

Posted by Andrew Huff in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

In what is best described as a roaming tower defense game, Guns'n'Glory, by HandyGames, allows you to play as bad guys who attempt to ambush settlers and steal their gold. Starting off as a lone gunman, the more settlers you kill, the more gold you’ll gain, which in turn will allow you to hire more bandits to help you out in your evil ways.

Available for free on the Android market, Guns'n'Glory offers a unique style of gameplay by melding several genres into one title. On one hand you have a layout similar to a tower defense game and on ...

Aug

Response To A Response: More On Google's Android Licensing Service

Posted by Justin Case in Dev, Editorials, Mods

Today I awoke to see a response from Tim Bray on the Android Developer's Blog regarding my previous article on circumventing the Android License Verification Library, and I almost completely agree with him. The License Verification Library is a very good start - above and beyond what, if anything, Google owes developers. Copy protection is and should be the responsibility of the developer. Google has given us a great tool, provided thorough documentation, and even open sourced the project.

However, what I don't agree with in Mr. Bray's post was his calling my article a "how-to-pirate piece," ...

Aug

[Updated] Hands-On Review Of Sprint's Samsung Epic 4G

Posted by Ian Douglas in Epic 4G, News, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Samsung, Sprint, Videos

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

When offered to preview Sprint’s Samsung Galaxy S offering, the SPH-D700, also known as the Epic 4G, I immediately jumped on the opportunity. While my first personal-use Android device was the Nexus One, I’ve handled my share of Android smartphones, and my history of smartphone use has included several Samsung phones over the years. This being the first Galaxy S device I’ve personally handled, I’m glad to say that Samsung does not disappoint, and I can highly recommend the device to users who need a physical keyboard and can sign up for a contract with Sprint.

Update #1: added

...

Aug

Dell Aero Now Available For $100 On Contract, Runs On Cupcakes

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Aero, AT&T, Cupcake 1.5, Dell, News

Last Updated: September 22nd, 2010

At this point, we'd consider it a joke to release a device with Android 1.5, but apparently, Dell thinks differently.

The 3.67-ounce Dell Aero goes on sale today (on Dell.com, at least; AT&T still lists it as "coming soon") for $99.99 on a new two-year contract with AT&T, and packs:

2GB of onboard storage
triband 3.6Mbps HSDPA and quadband EDGE
5 megapixel camera
3.5-inch 640x360 display

Oh, and the best part? It runs the latest and greatest in the world of Android operating systems: Android 1.5 Cupcake. Yes, seriously. Full press release after the break.

Source: Dell via Engadget

Dell

...

Aug

When It Comes To Ads, Android Users Are 80% More Valuable Than iPhone Users

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, Dev, Games, News

Dan Ruby, Research Director for ad firm Chitika, just pinged us to share his latest Android research findings. The research compared the Apple and Google mobile platforms to determine which is more profitable for advertising, and the answer is overwhelmingly Android. When we say overwhelmingly, we mean by 80%:

As usual, this is based on Chitika's ad network - so while the numbers are likely pretty accurate, they're not necessarily official.

All of the studied platforms have an equal pay-out rate, but Android users have a significantly higher ad click rate - nearly 1.2% of ads displayed are ...