December 2010 Archives

Dec

Android Platform Version Stats Updated Again, Froyo Now Dominant

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Cupcake 1.5, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, News

If you love devouring Android stats, Google's Android Platform Versions sub-site, which is updated about once a month, just got refreshed with the latest batch of data. Last month, Froyo ate up some 36% of the pie, while Éclair was found to be running on about 41% of devices, with the remaining 23% being taken up by Cupcake and Donut.

As you can see for yourself in the graph above, this month was quite a turn-around - Froyo (at 43.4%) finally stole the throne from Éclair, which was left with 39.6%. As for 1.5 (Cupcake) and 1.6 (Donut), they each gobbled up 6.3% and 10.6%, respectively.

Dec

T-Mobile UK's Samsung Galaxy S Now Receiving Froyo Update Over The Air, T-Mobile US Still Sleeping At The Wheel

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Froyo 2.2, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

While Galaxy S owners here in the States are still (im)patiently awaiting the update to Android 2.2, it looks like users on T-Mobile UK's network are already enjoying the wonders of Froyo. Yes, the update that was initially scheduled for September is only now rolling out.

Luckily, T-Mobile's European brother has (slightly) sweetened the deal with a nice twist - although the update was originally supposed to be made available exclusively through Samsung's Kies software for Windows-based PCs, the carrier has seen fit to add an OTA version into the mix. That doesn't mean Kies has been completely left out of the fun, though - if "reasons out of our [T-Mobile's] control" interfere with the OTA update, users can still hook their phones up to their (Windows-based) computers, start up Kies, and download the update in the same manner most other European carriers are having users do.

Dec

Official Google Reader Android App Now In The Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

Completely unexpectedly and without much fanfare, Google just dropped its official Google Reader app into the Market. I gave it a quick look and found that it's basically a great interface to the mobile version, lacking any advanced features (such as pre-caching) or settings.

The 3 great things about it are:

Google Reader login integration, which uses your phone's built-in Google auth, after you grant it permission. This means the app never asks for login credentials.
The app syncs everything with the web version very seamlessly.
It's fast and doesn't hang anywhere, unlike gReader.

Now the bad things:

As far as I can tell, there's no pre-caching or any kind of cache control at all.

Dec

Verizon Wireless Announces 4G LTE Details - Arriving December 5th With Ridiculously Expensive Data Plans

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Verizon Wireless, Videos

As expected, today Verizon Wireless officially unveiled its plans to light up more than 1/3 of America with the next generation 4G LTE network. The switch will be flipped this Sunday, December 5th, but since VZW doesn't have any LTE-enabled mobile phones just yet, the only way to get a taste of the new network will be using one of the two USB modems VZW will be offering: the LG VL600 or the Pantech UML290.

The coverage area is pretty impressive, considering this is the first time LTE will be rolled out in the US - 38 major metropolitan areas and over 60 airports, which is pretty much unchanged from our report in October (see the full list in the PR at the bottom of this post).

Dec

Rovio Releases Angry Birds Seasons With 70 New Christmas And Halloween Levels [Hands-On]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Games, News

Just as promised, Rovio, the maker of the oh-so-popular Angry Birds, released a separate game called Angry Birds Seasons today, which contains 45 Halloween levels, previously only available on iOS, as well as 25 Christmas levels.

I haven't spotted any new birds yet, and I doubt they've added any, but I'm sure a few hours later, when you all finish every level, you will let us know. Oops, I take that back - the snow levels are available one per day, starting today, all the way through December 25th (see the last screenshot to see what happens if you try to click on day 2).

Dec

Been Lusting After Wireless Syncing? Here It Is - It's Called Airsync [Hands-On]

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Last Updated: January 11th, 2011

If you're like me, you've been longing for cable-free syncing ever since you got your Android phone. Well, the wait has now ended, thanks to doubleTwist, otherwise known as the iTunes of Android devices.

Their latest update includes a handy new feature called AirSync, which does exactly what its name implies: it syncs your music, videos, and photos over the air. The desktop client and the regular Android app (both of which you'll need for AirSync to work) are still 100% free, but the AirSync feature itself will cost you $4.99 (on sale for $0.99 until 10,000 people download it).