November 2010 Archives

Nov

LG Star Makes Its Appearance In Hands-On Video, Complete With Custom LG Facebook App

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in LG, News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990)

Last Updated: December 23rd, 2010

Say what you may about the custom UI that was on the LG Star we saw earlier today, but you can't deny that there's something to be said for its dual-core processor. GSM Israel has proven just that via a hands-on video in which the LGP990 (aka the Star) is compared side-by-side with an iPhone 4, which comes off a bit undersized next to the Star.

Another factoid mentioned in the video: the handset packs a Tegra 2 processor driving a 4-inch display. Additionally, the video confirmed that the device will indeed ship with an 8 MP camera as ...

Nov

Rumor: Motorola Olympus To Be Released In December/January

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in AT&T, Motorola, News, Olympus

While we originally heard that AT&T would start selling the dual-core Motorola Olympus by the end of January, it now appears that the phone may be available earlier - according to a Facebook message which has since been deleted (see below), the handset may go on sale as early as December. Unfortunately, AT&T, who posted the message, later stated that "we don't have any information to share about upcoming devices" and that the message was posted "erroneously," so not much else came out of the leak. Still, here's what we do know: we're looking at a Tegra 2 handset that ...

Nov

Samsung Captivate And Vibrant Finally Get GPS "Fix" Via GPSSamsungRestore App

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Apps/Games, AT&T, Captivate, News, Samsung

The Galaxy S phones are, without a doubt, among the best Android phones out there, but for some time now, the handsets have been plagued by one potential showstopper - malfunctioning GPS capabilities. Worry not, though - in addition to an update that rolled out a few months ago, Samsung has developed an app called GPSSamsungRestore which is now available from the Android Market for all users of AT&T's Captivate and T-Mobile's Vibrant. So what does it do? It undoes any modifications to the GPS and basically reverts it to its original state. While it remains to be ...

Nov

Last Week's Best New Android Apps And Games (11/22/10 - 11/29/10)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Last Updated: April 13th, 2011

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications and games that went live in the Market in the previous week or so. This roundup is a day late, apologies for that - the Theft Aware review stole a lot of my time.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets.

Best New Android Apps

Team Viewer

Team Viewer is a remote access app done really well. For some reason it's not available on the Market and can be downloaded here: http://teamviewer.com/download/mobile.aspx. See our review of Team Viewer here: ...

Nov

More Info On The LG Star Emerges - Runs Custom Skin, Has HDMI Port, Is A Beast

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in LG, News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990)

Last Updated: December 23rd, 2010

While most of us would be content with one Tegra 2-loaded device, one Android Forums member has managed to get his hands on two of LG's new Star dual-core beasts. What he found was quite enticing: a Quadrant score of 1759 (which outranks even the Droid Pro's 1528), an HDMI port on the top of the device, and... yes, despite the rumors we heard originally, LG apparently decided to include their own custom skin, which looks surprisingly similar to Samsung's Touchwiz UI.

The model in question was said to be running the aforementioned skin on top ...

Nov

Winamp 0.9.2 With Shoutcast Support Now In The Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Winamp feels incomplete without Shoutcast radio streaming support, and 2 weeks ago, some folks at DownloadSquad got their hands on a private beta version that had just that. Fast forward to today, and you can finally download the new Shoutcast-enabled v0.9.2 from the Market.

Top stations, search, favorites, recent, and genre browsing are all there and work exactly as expected. Now if only we could play custom .pls playlists, such as the one di.fm premium generates, I would be on cloud 9.

Grab the latest version of Winamp from the Market by clicking the QR code below on your mobile ...

Nov

Barnes And Noble NOOKcolor Rooted; Sub-$300 Android Tablet That Doesn't Suck Is Now Available

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Barnes & Noble, Mods, News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

The Samsung Galaxy Tab is the only Android-based tablet worth considering. But is it? That question is now up in the air since Barnes and Noble's $250 NOOKcolor, an Android-based e-reader, has been rooted. While before the deed was done it was just that - an e-reader - it's now taken on a life of its own, a life complete with Angry Birds:

The procedure is still a bit complicated (as you'll see for yourself below), but it's definitely a start - until z4Root, SuperOneClick, or some other one-click solution becomes available, I've got a feeling this ...

Nov

Gameloft Treats Sprint's Epic 4G And EVO 4G Owners To A Buy-One-Get-One-Free Offer On All HD Android Games

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Deals, Games, News

Gameloft, one of Android's top quality game publishers, announced today its partnership with Sprint, which will bring Epic 4G and EVO 4G owners an exclusive buy-one-get-one-free HD game opportunity.

Here are the instructions for the aforementioned devices:

Connect through 3G. Please note WiFi and 4G will not work.
Using your HTC EVO or Samsung EPIC phone, check into the Sprint Zone
Within the Sprint Zone, click through to our Gameloft app (this can be found under “Suggested Apps”): http://wapshop.gameloft.com/us/sprintchannel/hdplus
You’ll see our “Buy One, Get One Free” promotional banner. Click to get the deal.

According to Gameloft, this promo will ...

Nov

WakeVoice: Make Your Alarm Intelligent And Enlightening

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Remember that scene in Iron Man where Tony Stark sleeps with the journalist (Christine Everhart), and then in the morning, Jarvis wakes her up by reading the current weather, surf conditions, and so on? Yeah, now your Android device can do that.

_{I was looking for a picture that showed the UI on the glass, but this will do nicely.}

The app is called WakeVoice, and it's a pretty excellent idea - to quote the developer:

... via speech synthesis (tts), your alarm clock will speak to you. It will announce customize message, weather forecast and latest news. Furthermore, due

...

Nov

Theft Aware 2.0 – The Most Ingenious Android Security Solution With The Best Root Integration We’ve Seen To Date. Really [Hands-On Review]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in App Reviews, Applications, News, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

For the last 2 weeks, I've been testing a pre-release version of Theft Aware 2.0 - an app that occupies a spot in the familiar Android Security category, alongside WaveSecure, Lookout, and others. And yet, Theft Aware stands so much taller compared to them that they become small, almost invisible, dots. I could hardly contain my excitement and fascination with Theft Aware, but first, I needed to get answers to all of my questions and pass the info to all of you.

The main reason I'm fascinated with Theft Aware is its superb integration with rooted phones. The benefits ...

Nov

Samsung Galaxy Tab Review: Getting A Handle On The Tab

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Galaxy Tab, News, Reviews, Samsung, Tablet Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Last week, Samsung was awesome enough to send us the T-Mobile variant of their Galaxy Tab for review. As of this writing, I've spent a full 9 days using the 7" tablet - more than enough time to get an intimate feel for it. Without giving too much away off the bat, I have to say that I'm fairly impressed with it, despite having a few minor niggles.

So what does the Tab do right, and where does it come up short? Read on to find out.

Hardware

Build

The first thing you notice about the Tab ...

Nov

White And Regular Editions Of Motorola Droid 2 Global Now Available From Wirefly For Half Of Verizon's Price - Just $99.99 On A New Two-Year Contract

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid 2 Global, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

So look, Verizon's price for the Motorola Droid 2 Global is nice (or at least pretty decent for a phone loaded with a 1.2GHz processor and dual GSM/CDMA radios), but it can't stand up to the deals you and I both know Wirefly's been cooking up. Well now the Internet's largest authorized retailer of cell phones has come out and made it official - it's selling both the white and the regular versions of the phone for just $99.99 with a new two-year contract. As for add-a-line plans, you'll be coughing up $129.99 , while existing Verizon customers looking to ...

Nov

Is Sprint About To Release 4G To The Bay Area?

Sprint 4G In The San Francisco Bay Area To Launch December 28th, 2010

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

Along with hundreds of thousands of people inhabiting the San Francisco Bay Area, I've been waiting for the Sprint 4G launch ever since Google graciously gifted us the EVO 4G powerhouses back at the I/O conference. In fact, it was June 16th, which happens to be my birthday, when I first noticed a strong 4G signal in Mountain View, not too far from Google's own headquarters. Little did I know back then that the wait was not over, and we wouldn't be getting 4G until the very end of the year.

I am glad to report that the ...

Nov

Virgin Mobile USA's Cyber Monday Deal: $75 Off Samsung Intercept ($174.99, No Contract)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Deals, Intercept, News, Samsung, Virgin Mobile

The Black Friday is long gone, but another, potentially even bigger event, called Cyber Monday, is now upon us. Cyber Monday is what happens when the Black Friday goes online, and Virgin Mobile USA does not disappoint. The carrier, which uses Sprint's network, is offering its only Android handset, the Samsung Intercept, for a whopping $75 off. The deal is valid for the duration of Cyber Monday, so hurry up if you want this 800MHz Android QWERTY slider for $175, with free shipping. The beauty of Virgin Mobile USA, of course, is its plans starting at $25 a month, ...

Nov

Quick Tip: How To Jump To Top In TweetDeck For Android

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Tips

Having found the jump to top function in TweetDeck for Android yesterday, which I didn't know existed for who knows how long, I got excited and shared the tip via Twitter. You see, what we take for granted in other clients, such as Twidroyd, where this feature is accessed via a button in the Menu, is not so obvious in TweetDeck. To my surprise, so many of you responded, thanking for uncovering this obscure feature in your favorite Twitter client, that I decided (since not everyone is on Twitter nowadays [:gasp:]) to put the tip up for everyone to see. ...