April 2011 Archives

Apr

[Deal Alert] Samsung Fascinate and HTC Inspire 4G Free At Best Buy Mobile This Weekend [UPDATED]

Posted by Cameron Summerson in AT&T, Fascinate, Inspire 4G (Ace, Stallion), News, Verizon Wireless

Update: It looks like we jumped the gun on this one. The Inspire 4G will not be offered for free, it will be the Samsung Captivate.

It's no secret that we all love Android. But what do we love more than Android? Free Android phones, of course! Best Buy Mobile wants to feed our addiction with the newest episode of Free Phone Fridays (and in this case, Saturday, too). If you mosey on into BBM this weekend you can pick up the Samsung Fascinate on Verizon or the ~~HTC Inspire 4G~~ Samsung Captivate on AT&T free of charge (with a ...

Apr

Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About, Part 3: Apps 17-25

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Best Apps For Rooted Users Series, Mods, Reviews, Tips

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

This is the third iteration in our 'Top Android Apps Every Rooted User Should Know About' series. Click here for part one or here for part two.

It's that time again - we've spent the last few months scouring the Android Market, and now we're ready to report back with nine more great root apps. There are a lot of good ones in this edition - read on for some of the best reasons to root your Android handset!

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics. If you’re unfamiliar with some of the terms, hit up

...

Apr

[Updated] Motorola XOOM Update Adds Google Talk Bluetooth Support And More

Posted by David Ruddock in Motorola, News, XOOM

According to a tipster at Droid-life, the Motorola XOOM will be receiving a (relatively minor) system update tomorrow, and no - it doesn't include SD card support (exactly why, we can't even begin to guess). Here's the list of changes and additions:

Access and stay connected to Wi-Fi networks with added Proxy support
SSL data transfer with websites is now supported
WPA Pre-Shared Key pass-phrases are now supported when using the device as a Mobile Hotspot
POP 3 HTML emails will display in their entirety
Bluetooth is now supported in Google Talk
Application storage errors will not appear unless

...

Apr

Want HSUPA On Your Motorola ATRIX Right Now? Fret Not - XDA Has You Covered

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Atrix 4G (Olympus), Dev, News

Each Motorola ATRIX owner has seen their fair share of ups and downs, the biggest down of all perhaps being the lack of up(load speeds), as the ATRIX 4G doesn't have HSUPA support out of the box. AT&T has promised a fix for this and we've even seen phantom updates arise to fix the issue. As always, though, when carriers and manufacturers fail us, who do we look to? XDA, of course! This occasion is no different, and user dew.man has come through.

This fix is for rooted devices only.

If you're not familiar with flashing and RSD Lite, then

...

Apr

[Hands-On] Google Docs Photo Upload OCR: It Kind Of Sucks At This Point

Posted by David Ruddock in App Reviews, Applications, Apps/Games, Reviews, Tips

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

We were all very excited to hear about the Google Docs for Android announcement this morning, and even more so when we learned it came with a special surprise feature: the ability to upload photos of physical documents from your Android phone and have them transcribed by Google Docs into editable text.

So, the first thing I was curious about, naturally, is just how well this new feature works in the real world. As you may have guessed from the title, not very. Let me show you the photos I tasked Google Docs for Android with transcribing.

Document 1: Printed

...

Apr

Official Google Docs App For Android, It's About Time

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If there is one single Google service that I've wanted on my phone since the day I got it, it's Google Docs. That wait is finally over, because Google has released an official Docs app for Android - and it's nothing short of awesome.

This app not only allows you to view and edit all of your Docs, but also brings a few other killer features. Firstly, it offers a widget that allows you to quickly create a new document, take a picture and upload it, or directly access your starred documents.

The most impressive feature, however, is the ability ...

Apr

Another Day, Another Source Code Delivered: Samsung Releases The Source For The Galaxy Prevail

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Dev, Galaxy Prevail, News

Last Updated: November 23rd, 2011

Earlier this month Boost Mobile announced the Samsung Galaxy Prevail, the first decent Android handset to land on the Sprint prepaid subsidiary. It's slated to be released just two days from now, and keeping up with its seemingly new demeanor, Samsung has already released the Froyo kernel source code over at the Open Source Developers Center.

While its tiny 3.2 inch screen and crummy 2MP camera certainly don't make this phone anything to write home about, I think it's nice that Sammy is paying attention to the little guys and big guys alike.

You can grab the source download ...

Apr

Acer Iconia Smart Hits The FCC: 4.8 Inches Of Tabletphone Glory

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Acer, AT&T, News

The Acer Iconia Smart, which was originally unveiled in November of last year and slated for release in April of 2011, has officially hit the FCC. This revealed 850, 1900, and 2100MHz 3G frequencies, which basically means that this tablet-phone hybrid device is almost certainly going to land on AT&T.

If you haven't heard about the Iconia Smart, you're not alone - but this is definitely one device to keep your eye on. Check out the specs:

4.8 Inch 1024x480 display
1GHz Snapdragon processor
512MB RAM
8MP rear camera with 720p video capture, 2MP front camera
Android 2.3

Naturally, we're ...

Apr

Facebook For Android Updated To V1.5.4; Now Allows You To... Use Facebook Without Force Closes

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Apps/Games

You may remember a couple of days ago when Facebook for Android received an update and, for many users (myself included, on all 3 of my Android devices), became a blue-tinted cavalcade of force-closes. Well, it seems that the Facebook team took notice and pushed an update out that (hopefully) remedies the situation for everyone. It now seems to be working flawlessly (well...from the stability standpoint) on both my EVO and Nook Color. Go to the market and grab it now. Your friends miss you.

Facebook for Android

QR code for https://market.android.com/details?id=com.facebook.katana

...

Apr

Twitter For Android Updated, Adds Features That Other Clients Already Have

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you use the official Twitter for Android app, then you'll be happy to know that it was updated today. This update brings some pretty decent features, some features that most other clients already have, and others that are nothing to write home about, but are probably welcome anyway. I'll do this the easy way and just give you the list first.

What's in this version:
Displays search results in a tabbed view
Add and remove saved searches from universal search suggestions
SSL used for network requests
Font size setting
Tapping on a map in detail view searches nearby Tweets

...

Apr

Motorola Says 2011 Devices To Have "Unlockable/Relockable Bootloader"

Posted by Zak Stinson in Dev, Motorola, News, Rumors

Last Updated: April 27th, 2011

Motorola has had a dark past when it comes to bootloaders. Apart from a couple exceptions (most notably, the XOOM), all of the major Motorola devices have had locked bootloaders, and thus, Android customization enthusiasts have been shut out from such tweaks as custom kernels.

Recently, there has been quite an outcry directed at Motorola and their bootloader policy, in the form of petitions and hijacked polls, and it looks like they have heard users' requests. In response to questions from Irwin Proud, the man behind the petition, Motorola has indicated that they plan on changing their tune.

“In

...

Apr

[Free Stuff Alert] Amazon Is Giving Away 8 Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Tablets

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Motorola, News, XOOM

If you head over to Amazon's Facebook page right now and press "Like," you'll find the first product in Amazon's ongoing A-Z Sweepstakes, a Motorola XOOM, is up for grabs. Eight of them - to be precise. All you have to do is give Amazon your name, email address, and phone number to enter. This is a US residents-only contest, though (unlike our super-awesome Motorola XOOM Wi-Fi Giveaway.)

Amazon

...

Apr

HTC Sensation To Ship With 'HTC Trace' - A Swype Style Keyboard

Posted by Zak Stinson in EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid)

We Android fans love our input methods. Luckily there is no shortage of options, with keyboards ranging from the standard Gingerbread keyboard all the way to wacky ones such as 8Pen. Despite all the competition, and the fact that it isn't even available on the Android Market, Swype is one of the most popular custom keyboards around. It makes the tedious act of touchscreen typing that much smoother by letting users glide their thumb from letter to letter rather than tapping.

There are a number of imitators on the market today that try to implement this swiping method of ...