June 2011 Archives

Jun

Andy Rubin: Over 500,000 Android Devices Are Activated Every Day

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, News

Last Updated: July 6th, 2011

A little over a year ago, Google was activating 100,000 Android devices every day. That seemed like a huge number at the time, but compared what the future would bring, that's small-time. Several months later - in December, 2010 - that number had risen to 300,000 activation per day, effectively tripling the number of Android devices in just seven months. At Google I/O last month, it was announced that activations were still on the rise, and had hit 400,000 per month. Today, Andy Rubin took to Twitter to let us know how much Android has grown in just one ...

Jun

T-Mobile Announces myTouch 4G Slide, Available In July For $199.99

Posted by Nate Kimmey in News, T-Mobile

Although not the best-kept secret over at T-Mobile, the latest entry in their myTouch series is still very impressive. Specs-wise, it is able to easily compete with the recently-released Sensation, but still has a few interesting software tricks up its sleeves:

1.2 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor
3.7" SLCD 800 x 480 display
Android 2.3
Sense 3.0
8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash
1080p video capture
Full QWERTY keyboard
HSPA+ connectivity

While the 8 megapixel camera isn't unheard of among high-end smartphones, T-Mobile wants you to know that the 4G Slide is still easily capable of replacing your camera ...

Jun

T-Mobile Appears To Be No Longer Blocking gTalk Calls Over 3G - Is It Working For You?

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), T-Mobile

When the new Google Talk with voice and video calling was launched, those of you on T-Mobile who wanted to place calls on 3G quickly found out that it wasn't at all possible. Rather than connecting you to your dog for an afternoon chat, the application stubbornly insisted on only operating through a Wi-Fi connection. At Google I/O 2011, I was able to dig up some more technical details surrounding this limitation, even further upsetting hopeful customers. Bummer.

The light at the end of the tunnel appeared out of nowhere today, when reddit user ep311 was suddenly able to ...

Jun

HTC Is "Diligently Working" On That EVO 3D Bootloader Unlock, In Case You Were Wondering

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, News

EVO 3D owners across the US have been patiently waiting a whole 3 days (I know, it's an eternity) for HTC to make good on its promise to unlock the phone's bootloader. HTC has now issued a statement on the matter in response to a wall post on its Facebook page, which is overrun with complaints from EVO 3D owners (or people who just like to whine) criticizing what they perceive to be the slowness of the company's efforts to issue a bootloader unlock solution.

While HTC never made promises about a time frame, there's still no shortage of angry ...

Jun

Transdroid Torrent Manager Removed From Android Market By Google

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

I never know how to feel about torrent (in this case, management) applications. On the one hand, torrenting is a brilliant and efficient way to share information in a collective and low-cost (read: free) fashion. On the other, it's the single largest gateway to piracy in existence. And it could kill you.

But it's clear torrenting applications are very much legal. So why has Google removed a popular torrent management application, Transdroid, from the Android Market? There's a number of such apps on the Market, and Transdroid's competitors are still standing. TorrentFreak thinks they know what's up.

Transdroid's developer page ...

Jun

[Review] Dinner Spinner Brings The Feast To Android: Let The Food Porn Commence!

Posted by Matt Demers in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Great iOS ports seem to be flowing over the Android border quite steadily these days: I reviewed Cut The Rope last week, so why not tackle AllRecipes.com's Dinner Spinner?

Dinner Spinner is a port of the popular iOS app by the same name. In it, you spin a number of menus and select certain criteria for recipes you would like to try. The app then queries the database for recipes that match your search, and bring the ingredients list and directions up for you, right on your phone.

The allure (and major feature) of this app is that you ...

Jun

comScore: Android Accounts For Only 2.7% Of All Tablets In The US

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

We often hear smartphone and other market share figures bandied about by various analysts and market research firms - but comScore tends to be a pretty trusted name in the industry, particularly when it comes to web traffic figures, so we take these numbers as being fairly reliable.

In their most recent web traffic survey of "non-computer" devices (tablets, phones, media players), comScore evaluated traffic on a per-nation basis, and the results don't paint a pretty picture for Android tablets.

Raw percentage as part of all "Non-Computer Devices"

If you break down the raw percentages above, Apple's iPad represents over ...

Jun

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[Live Wallpaper] Gravity Home: Where Launcher Meets Wallpaper

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

If you've been looking for a live wallpaper that offers up a bit of functionality and nice physics, then Gravity Home may fit the bill perfectly. It's a live wallpaper / launcher hybrid, and unlike some of the competitors in the Market, it's actually useable.

The concept behind Gravity Home is simple: instead of having static icons on your homescreens, why not have icons that dynamically move around as your device moves? While this may sound slightly annoying, the icons actually "float" around the homescreen, so the movement is very slow and fluid, making it easy to tap the one ...

Jun

Google's 15-Minute App Return Window Unlawful In Taiwan, Google Pulls Paid Apps In Response

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

Well, this is an interesting turn of events for the Android Market's universally-despised 15-minute app return window. According to the Taipei Times, the Taipei City Government was recently alerted to Google's Android Market return policies - policies that violate Taiwanese consumer protection laws requiring any product bought over the internet to have at least a 7-day "trial period."

Earlier this month, the Taiwanese government gave Google a 15-day ultimatum to revise its app return policies to include the mandatory 7-day trial period, but Google refused to comply. Faced with a $1 million fine for non-compliance, Google, after negotiations with ...

Jun

[Video] Leaked Version Of Gingerbread For The Samsung Droid Charge

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Droid Charge / i510, Gingerbread 2.3, News

If you're a Droid Charge owner, there's a good chance you're wondering when Gingerbread will be coming your way. After all, we've heard many Gingerbread rumors lately - but not a mention of the Charge. Until now, that is.

Well known Android modder P3Droid has apparently gotten his hands on a leaked version of Gingerbread for the Charge, hooked up the video camera, and proceeded to show us what to expect from the update - including a demo of Netflix actually working.

Other than what you see here, there's little info surrounding this update. There's no word of when it's ...

Jun

Rumor: The Next Nexus Phone May Be Built By Samsung, Has Super AMOLED HD Display

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Rumors, Samsung

We're as skeptical of oddly-specific rumors as the next blog, but given the source, we feel it'd be negligent of us not to pass on this information to you. A couple weeks back, we reported on a BGR-exclusive story that leaked information about the next Google Nexus Android phone.

Now, "Prime" is rumored to be the device codename being tossed around at the Googleplex for the upcoming handset, but BGR's exclusive source has reason to believe that name will make it to end consumers. There's also the fact that this name has been bandied about before and bears a certain ...

Jun

OnLive Viewer APK Pulled From HTC Flyer, And It Appears To Be Working On Most Devices

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Flyer, News

Last night, the HTC Flyer received an update that included the OnLive viewer, allowing users to get a glimpse of what the future of mobile gaming should look like. Naturally, those of us that don't have a Flyer want to peep into said future, too - so, in typical XDA fashion, the APK was extracted from the update so it could be installed on other devices. It's worth noting that this is the viewer, not the player, so you'll only be able to watch the action. For those not sure what OnLive is all about, here's a video of it ...

Jun

[Deal Alert 2] EVO Shift 4G Now Free At Wirefly On New 2-Year Agreement

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, EVO Shift 4G (Speedy), News, Sprint, Tips

Last week, I listed the EVO Shift 4G in my roundup of the best Android phones under $50, but that was when it was priced at $40 on AmazonWireless. Wirefly has now gone and beaten that price silly, offering the QWERTY-keyboard slider phone for the low, low price of "free" if you open a new Sprint account, or add a new line to your existing plan.

The EVO Shift 4G does have a tiny 3.6" display, but it's also packing a next-gen single core Snapdragon processor and a big 1530mAh battery - along with a fresh update to Android ...

Jun

[Deal Alert] DROID Charge Now Just $129.99 At Wirefly On New 2-Year Agreement

Posted by David Ruddock in Deals, Droid Charge / i510, News, Tips

I'm not a big fan of the DROID Charge, but hey, to each his own. And apparently consumers haven't been such huge fans of the phone's notoriously high original MSRP ($300 on upgrade or new agreement), making it the most expensive subsidized Android phone to date.

Well, Wirefly has started playing hardball, and after having dropped the Charge down to $180 a month or so back, they've gone price-slashing yet again: you can now pick up the Samsung DROID Charge for $129.99 on a new Verizon account with a 2-year agreement, or when you add a line to your ...

Jun