November 2011 Archives

Nov

Off-Contract Virgin Mobile USA Wildfire S On Sale For $99.99 (Half Off) Till November 26th

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Deals, HTC, Virgin Mobile, Wildfire S / Wildfire 2 (Marvel)

OK, so it might not be the Galaxy Nexus, but HTC's Wildfire S for Virgin Mobile is a fairly decent smartphone (the carrier's second best option), and it is available off-contract for a fraction of the price of a more high-end handset. Under regular circumstances, the device comes in at just $199.99 without any sort of contract, but from now until Saturday (November 26th), it's half off - $99.99.

Again, that's less than a Benjamin for a fully off-contract Wildfire S, complete with:

Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
WiFi/3G radios
Bluetooth
A 3.2-inch touch screen
A microSD card slot
A 5.0MP

...

Nov

Meltdown On Mars THD Coming In December 2011 - Tower Defense Meets Gun Bros [Video]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Games, News, Videos

Any time a new game shows up in NVIDIA's TegraZone, we immediately hop on to take a look - after all, only the best of the best games with gorgeous graphics make it that far.

The newest addition to TegraZone this time around is Meltdown On Mars THD - it's what I would call a mix of tower defense and Gun Bros, executed in a way kind of similar to Dungeon Defenders. You can move your main character around freely like in an RPG/action game, all while planting defensive turrets, barricades, and mines in an effort to ...

Nov

Happy Thanksgiving From All Of Us Here At Android Police!

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Off-Topic

Today is the day when most of us in the U.S. spend time with our family, stuff our faces full of delicious food, and relax. While you're spending time with your family, the Android Police family would like to wish you all a very special holiday - of all the things we're thankful for, you, the reader, are at the very top of the list. Without you, none of this would be possible.

From all of us at AP to you - have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving.

P.S. - Pass the gravy.

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Nov

[Raising The Dead] The HTC G1 Gets A Taste Of Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by Cameron Summerson in G1 (Dream), Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Still rocking the HTC G1, the world's first Android phone? Didn't think so, but if you have one laying around somewhere, you may want to grab that thing and knock the dust off of it. Why, you ask? Because there's a "working" (I use that term loosely here) port of ICS ready to flash.

As you may imagine, it is incredibly slow and nearly unusable, but c'mon - you have to admit that it's pretty cool. Here's a video of it in action (again, I use that term loosely).

There are a few things that still aren't working in this ...

Nov

Carrier IQ Drops Legal Threats, Apologizes To Developer Trevor Eckhart

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Legal, News

Trevor Eckhart, a developer involved in uncovering a huge security vulnerability that affected several HTC devices, was recently threatened by Carrier IQ (CIQ), a company involved in gathering various forms of user data and sending it to carriers or manufacturers for analysis. For those who haven't been following the story, here's what happened:

Trevor Eckhart found several training manuals on CIQ's website. These were publicly available. Trevor shared them with the community, explaining just how far-reaching CIQ's data collection practices are. At this point, CIQ became aware of the fact that sensitive information had been exposed, and pulled the files ...

Nov

[Video] First Hands-On With Asus' Transformer Prime Surfaces – Just As Sleek And Fast As We Expected

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Videos

It seems like Asus' Transformer Prime has been constantly making headlines since before it was announced. Giving those looking forward to the tablet/netbook hybrid another bit of news to drool over, the first hands-on video of the Prime has surfaced on YouTube.

http://youtu.be/ZHaczwP3nHI

It's worth noting that the tablet featured in this video is pre-production – it's running Android 3.2.1., and using hardware that may not be finalized for production or sale. That being said, it looks just as sleek, fast, and powerful as we expected, and did you notice the benchmark? It seems the Transformer Prime scores somewhere ...

Nov

[Download] Here Are The Top 2 Winning Gorgeous Android Police Wallpapers And 25 Stunning Runners-Up

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Contests / Giveaways

A few weeks ago, we launched what ended up being my favorite creative Android Police contest to date - the wallpaper design contest. With over 250 submissions, it took me a little while to sort through everything and pick out the two winners, the top 25 runners-up, and even one hilarious entry that we absolutely had to include.

As promised, the first place entry will receive a 16GB Sony Tablet S, and the second one will get the Philips Fidelio AS851 that we reviewed earlier.

For a history of creative contests, see these posts:

AP banner design
AP

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Nov

[Update x2: Dan Morrill Confirms Software Fix With Sensible Explanation] Google: Galaxy Nexus Volume Bug Is Fixable In Software - Fix Already On The Way

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Galaxy Nexus / Nexus Prime, News

There's been quite a stir caused in the past few days about a mysterious volume bug which surfaced on the Galaxy Nexus. The bug began drawing attention over at XDA's forums, where several users reported ostensibly random muting, and erratic response from the Nexus' volume rocker.

It was quickly discovered that the issue seemed to have something to do with the use of 2G signal, specifically the use of a 900 MHz frequency used by many European carriers. The bug could also be replicated using other phones situated near the Galaxy Nexus, leading to concerns that perhaps the bug ...

Nov

Unlocked GSM Galaxy Nexus Now On Sale At Expansys.com... For $750

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy Nexus / Nexus Prime, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Samsung

Not in the mood to wait around for Verizon to finally decide to put a firm release date on the Galaxy Nexus' head? Tied to one of the other carriers? If your answer to either of those questions was affirmative (and if you have three-quarters of a grand lying around), you'll be delighted to know that Expansys just put up a page from which customers can purchase the I9250 GSM variant of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

At $750, it won't come cheap, but as this is an "intermational" handset (Expansys' "be first" motto apparently means it ...

Nov

Samsung Releases Source Code For The Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus And The Galaxy Tab 10.1N

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Tab 10.1N, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, News

If the smokin' fast Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus still isn't fast enough for you, we have good news. Samsung just released the kernel source code for the device to its Open Source Release Center. This will allow developers to see what the Exynos processor under the Tab 7 Plus' hood is really capable of.

Sammy also dropped the source code for the new Galaxy Tab 10.1N, the redesigned Tab 10.1 that was released in Germany to avoid Apple patent infringement.

Hit the respective links below to grab the source!

Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus

Galaxy Tab 10.1N

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Nov

Motorola Releases Source Code For DROID RAZR

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid RAZR, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Never one to keep its source code hidden away from the public's prying eyes (certainly more than can be said for, say, HTC), Motorola has decided to release the DROID RAZR's source code. This should make ROM development significantly easier, so hopefully we'll see a few more alternatives to MOTOBLUR pop up shortly. Devs, get on it!

Download link: SourceForge

via Phandroid

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Nov

695

[Updated: Here Is The Winner!] Turkey Day Giveaway #3: Win An HTC EVO Design 4G For Answering One Simple Question

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Contests / Giveaways, EVO Design 4G, Sprint

Last Updated: December 20th, 2011

A few days ago, we received a mystery package from the good folks at RadioShack. Inside the package were three phones - the Samsung Stratosphere on Verizon, HTC EVO Design 4G on Sprint, and Samsung Infuse 4G on AT&T. Since these phones are ours to do with what we please, we've decided to do what we always do when we end up with extra goodies: give them away.

Since we have three phones to hand out, we're going to make each contest quick and dirty. Each one will last for one day, and one day only.

RadioShack's Pre-Black Friday Sale...

Nov

[Update: Now Available For Pre-Order From Other Retailers] Official ASUS Transformer Prime Site Goes Live, Pops Up On Amazon For Pre-Order

Posted by Brad Ganley in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

Update: Looks like it's now available for pre-order from several other retailers in the US and Canada, including Best Buy, TigerDirect, B&H, and GameStop. Go here for more info.

We've been talking about it for a couple of weeks now and have even seen some nice hands-on action and a video, but, finally, the official site went live for for the ASUS Transformer Prime last night. In case your memory is failing you, here's a quick refresher on this sexy beast of a tablet:

8.3mm thick
Weighs 86g
NVIDIA® Tegra® 3 Quad-core CPU
Android™ 3.2 Honeycomb (4.0 Ice

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Nov

[Updated] Republic Wireless' Optimus One Gets Its First Unboxing, And It Looks To Be Running CM7

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Optimus One, Republic Wireless

Update: Steve Kondik (Cyanogen) himself verified via his Google+ page that TeamDouche was not involved in the project.

I guess you can finally buy a phone with something that resembles CM on it. Unfortunately, our team wasn't involved in this.

Under normal circumstances, I find unboxing videos to be pointless and boring. However, this isn't what I would call normal circumstances. A beta tester for the new Republic Wireless service received her phone yesterday and decided to do an unboxing for all to see. When she powered the phone up, it's clear that it's not running stock Android - it ...

Nov

Samsung Knocks Apple's Cult Following In New Ad, Tells Customers "The Next Big Thing Is Already Here"

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Galaxy S II, Off-Topic, Samsung

Last Updated: November 24th, 2011

In a new 60-second ad spot that could be described both as hilarious and extremely bold, Samsung tells consumers that "the next big thing is already here" with the Galaxy SII, while taking a pretty strong shot at die-hard Apple fans, satirizing Apple's cult following.

The spot opens with customers happily waiting in line outside a very Apple Store-ish location nine hours before opening. We then see a eureka moment when the customers catch sight of a Galaxy SII. Some are amazed. Others resist with retorts such as "I could never get a Samsung – I'm creative," to which another ...