Aaron Gingrich

Aaron is a geek who has always had a passion for technology. When not working or writing, he can be found spending time with his family, playing a game, or watching a movie.

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Feb

PSA: XFINITY App Exposes Your Comcast Username & Password In System Log

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Before you panic, you should know that this isn't a huge deal, and Comcast is aware of the situation and has promised a fix "within a week or two." There, feel better? Good, because if you use the XFINITY app, any other app that has permission to read logs can read your Comcast username and password (aLogCat, for example).

The details, courtesy of aBSuRDiST, who discovered the issue:

My system log shows <userName>MYUSERNAME@comcast.net</userName> and <password>MYPASSWORD</password> on a line that starts with "D/HTTPManager". I read the log using aLogcat (app available in the market). Open aLogcat, press menu and filter for "password".

Feb

[Hands-On] Make Your Clock Widget: Because Everyone Should Have A Totally Customized Clock

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, Mods, News

The open-endedness - particularly, the customizability - of Android is exactly what makes me love it so much. And Make Your Clock Widget is a perfect example of that, offering seemingly infinite possibilities for what you can create. Don't believe me? Take a look at the sample screenshots:

Intrigued, I took a few minutes to play with it, and came away hugely impressed (note: I didn't include a picture of my final clock because... well, I made a goofy clock just playing around with the app.)

You can add the date and time in nearly any fashion or format you can think of - there are tons of options available.

Feb

[Videos] WireFly Reviews The HTC Thunderbolt, Compares It To HTC EVO 4G And Verizon iPhone 4

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in HTC, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless, Videos

Last week our friends at WireFly unboxed the HTC Thunderbolt, but spent little time actually using the device. They left us with a few tantalizing tidbits though, saying "this phone cranks," and promising a full video review, as well as head-to-head comparisons with the iPhone 4 and the EVO 4G. Yesterday, the last of the three videos went up - let's take a look.

Video Review

The review video is just over 8 minutes long. The first few minutes are spent running through the system, and from the 4:10 mark onwards, they run some benchmarks and compare the scores to other devices.

Feb

HTC Thunderbolt Rooted With S-OFF, Successfully Running ClockworkMod Recovery

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Dev, HTC, Mods, News, Thunderbolt (Mecha), Verizon Wireless

The gang at AndIRC - lead by Jamzelle and TheEndGame7 - has already managed to completely root the HTC Thunderbolt, and with Koush's help, has ClockworkMod Recovery up and running on the device. Apparently, it was a surprisingly easy task in just about every way.

The team started with a pre-production, unbranded Thunderbolt running a January 3rd ROM. What they found was that the phone had a bootloader with S-OFF, although they note that it's not an engineering bootloader, and that it's likely a different one than production models will ship with. Even more surprisingly, the phone had no write protection.

Feb

[Weekend Poll] Is The Nokia/Microsoft Alliance A Threat To Android?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Mods, Polls

Last Updated: September 3rd, 2011

This is the newest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see The Great Divide: Is The Tablet/Phone Split Going To Hurt Android?

It's official: Nokia and Microsoft have formed a strategic alliance. Which, in layman's terms, means Nokia smartphones will be powered by Windows Phone 7, and search across all Nokia devices will be powered by Bing. What does this mean for Android, though?

Well, who knows. On the one hand, this is a move by Nokia to try to stop hemorrhaging customers, especially from the highly profitable smartphone segment. But it may already be too late; they've already given up an awful lot of ground.

Feb

Android Intervention, Part 2 Of 4: Cohesiveness, Uniformity, And The Little Things

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Editorials, News

This is part two in a series of editorials addressing our editors' biggest gripes with Android. Click here for part one, on fragmentation.

Android has advanced by leaps and bounds with the last few revisions. Android 2.2 (Froyo) famously brought massive performance improvements, 2.3 (Gingerbread) brought many subtle (and in sum, quietly substantial) usability and UI improvements, while 3.0 (Honeycomb) is bringing an entirely new UI to the OS.

I have to admit - I laid out this editorial weeks ago, when Gingerbread was still in its infancy and Honeycomb had yet to be officially revealed. Having used Gingerbread-powered CM7 for nearly a week now, I can say that Google is really starting to make progress on my gripes.

Feb

Android Intervention, Part 1 Of 4: Why Google Needs To Rein In Updates

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Editorials, News

I think it's safe to say that Android is the best thing to happen to smartphones since the iPhone (though, I'll admit, I may be a wee bit biased). Without a doubt, the massive success of the operating system is due in large part to its openness; the ability for devices to share fundamental code, while still allowing for an amazing amount of customization, has provided something for consumers, carriers, and manufacturers that Apple would never match. And it's for that reason that Android has taken off on such an unbelievable scale, clocking nearly 900% growth in 2010.

But despite all the things Android does great (and the list is definitely long), there are still a few places where it falls short.

Feb

[Rumor] Expansys Leaks Galaxy S 2, Desire HD2, Desire 2, and Wildfire 2 Spec Sheets

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Desire 2 (Saga), Desire HD2, Galaxy S II, HTC, News, Samsung, Wildfire S / Wildfire 2 (Marvel)

Last night, PocketNow landed their hands on some official spec sheet leaks from UK retailer Expansys, and the specs don't disappoint. Let's take a look:

Samsung Galaxy S 2

1.2 Ghz Dual-Core CPU (Qualcomm 8260 SnapDragon), Adreno 205 GPU
4.3" 800x480 SAMOLED Plus
8MP Camera around back (with LED flash and 1080p video recording), 2MP in front
512 MB RAM
16 GB internal storage, microSD card support

HTC Desire HD2

1.2 Ghz Dual-Core CPU (Qualcomm 8260 SnapDragon), Adreno 205 GPU
960x540 3.3" (typo? should it be 4.3"?) SLCD
8MP in back with LED flash and 1080p video
512MB RAM
8 GB internal storage, microSD support
Sense UI 3.0

HTC Desire 2

1 Ghz CPU (Qualcomm 8250 SnapDragon), Adreno 200 GPU
3.7" 800x480 SLCD
5MP rear camera (LED flash and 720p video), 2MP front
512 MB RAM
4 GB internal storage, microSD support

HTC Wildfire 2

600 Mhz CPU (Qualcomm MSM7227), Adreno 200 GPU
3.2" 480x420 TFT
5 MP rear camera (LED flash, 480p video)
384 MB RAM
Unspecified internal memory, microSD card support

All in all, some respectable specs from the Galaxy S 2 and DHD2, some run-of-the-mill specs for the Desire 2 (nearly identical CPU as the EVO), and some downright embarrassing kit on the Wildfire 2 (it won't even be able to run Flash).

Feb

Maxthon Mobile Browser For Android Released: Cloud Syncing, Gesture Support, And Personalization

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News

There's a new kid on the browser block, and it looks like he may be giving the others something to think about. Although it's been on the market for roughly a month and has between 10,000 and 50,000 downloads, this is the first we're hearing about Maxthon for Android. Take a look at the feature highlights:

Sync to the Cloud - Your bookmarks/favorites travel with you from desktop to mobile.
RSS reader widget - Find, manage and read your favorite content quickly and easily
Speed Dial - Quick access of the best sites on the web.
Download Manager - Makes it easy to sort, schedule and grab the downloads you need: wherever, whenever.

Feb

Twitter 2.0 Released For Android: Refreshed Layout, Easier Navigation, Faster Actions

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Twitter for Android has just been updated, taking a jump from version 1.0.5 all the way to 2.0. Based on the change log, it looks like the jump is well deserved:

Recent changes:
All new version!
- Easier navigation and layout
- Scan your contacts to find friends that are on twitter (under search screen)
- Universal search
- Local trends
- Autocomplete @usernames while tweeting
- Easier photo uploading
- Faster tweet actions (reply, retweet, follow, etc.)
Latest version: 2.0.0 (for Android version 2.1 and higher)