Aaron Gingrich
Contributing since June, 2010
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711articles
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About 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.
Latest Articles
About a month ago, we saw Lenovo's previously unknown IdeaTab S2109 hit the FCC, providing a glimpse of little more than the company's new 4:3 tablet. At the time, Engadget's tipster claimed it sported a 9.7", 4:3 IPS display, TI OMAP chip, four speakers, and microSD. Turns out they were on point with all of that (though not about the March launch date, obviously), and today, the company has released an official reveal video for the tablet.
The folks over at Fusible have discovered that Samsung has filed a trademark with the US PTO for three new names: Galaxy Sire, Galaxy Perx, and Galaxy Lift. While we don't have any details yet, we do know that we're looking at phones and not tablets - the trademarks were filed under the "Mobile phones; Smartphones" category.
CyanogenMod (CM) has long been the modding community's custom ROM of choice, and for good reason: it takes the goodness that is basic Android (AOSP) and adds a hearty dose of all-around improvement. The list of devices supported by CM is quite a long and impressive one (truth be told, they do a better job of supporting devices than the manufacturers do), and last night, cutting-edge nightly CM9 releases dropped for the Sony Xperia Arc (Anzu) and Xperia Neo (Hallon).
By most accounts, the Motorola DROID RAZR is an excellent phone, though battery life is questionable. Which is exactly what makes the RAZR MAXX such a great phone: at 9mm, it's still thin, but packs a battery with 85% more capacity (1780 vs 3300mAh). At the moment, the RAZR MAXX isn't sold in Europe and Middle East, but the company has just announced that will change sometime in May.
I've got a 16GB microSD card that I primarily use in my phone for local music playback. It's about half full - I really only keep my most recent music picks and a workout playlist on it, and stream everything else. Which brings us to a bit of a hiccup given that this is a review of a 64GB microSDXC card. In our Android-specific case, do you really even need a large amount of storage now that you can stream just about everything and anything on your Android device, and most ship with enough on-board storage to satisfy the app space of all but the most insane power users?Well, actually, yes. There are three main reasons for this: wireless speeds, bandwidth caps, and coverage. Sure, the ability to stream movies instantly from just about anywhere is cool in theory, but what happens when I'm trying to do it while in the car on a 500 mile trip? Can I maintain adequate download speed the entire way to ensure proper playback? Probably not. And if I do manage to, I have a pesky bandwidth cap to worry about before I either get charged overages or throttled back to the 1980s. Alternatively, my WiFi-only tablets obviously have no cell coverage, so they definitely can't stream while I'm traveling (tethering excluded for the reasons listed above). All this is excluding power users (with their hundreds of apps), and the obvious non-Android use cases, such as with digital cameras or camcorders, where more storage means more pictures or videos.
These days, earbuds are a dime a dozen - they can be had for as little as $1 at the dollar store, all the way into the hundreds of dollars for a high-end pair. And sound quality has improved quite a bit since the early days - any buds that are mid-range or better usually offer pretty good sound, so they're differentiated as much by features as by sound quality. That's where the $50 a-JAYS One+ headphones come through: features. In this case, the largest selling point (that gives it that little "+" in the name) is the inclusion of a control button.
MEIZU may have gotten its start as a maker of crappy knock-off electronics, but lately, the company has been making an impressive push into the mainstream. Take a look at the specs of the flagship MEIZU MX and you can see what I mean: 4" qHD screen, 8MP rear shooter, 1.4GHz dual-core CPU, and all the other usual goodies. The smaller (and 15 month old) M9 packs a punch too, with a 3.5" qHD screen, and 1GHZ CPU - also damn respectable for its time.
If you were a fan of Space Invaders or TI-83 classic Phoenix, you'll enjoy this: Star Defender 3. In a nutshell, it's a game where you pilot a spaceship against hordes of alien beasts. The description words it best:
About a month and a half ago, we posted about a highly impressive voice control app named "Utter!". Siri competitors are a dime a dozen nowadays, but Utter! is a lot more HAL than Siri:
[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Book Giveaway #17: Learn How To Develop With One Of Ten Copies Of Android Wireless Application Development
Book Giveaway #17
Learning to develop isn't always easy - and learning how to do it well is even harder. While it's true there are a plethora of resources available on the subject, sometimes they dive in too deep or skip over some of the prerequisites. Thanks to our friends over at informIT, though, we have just the book: Android Wireless Application Development Volume I: Android Essentials.
A high capacity microSD card is a good upgrade for any power user, even if at first blush you don't think the space is required. From my own experience, I never thought I needed one for extra space - I always had plenty enough storage as it was, or so I thought. But then I tried rooting a tablet and realized I needed a microSD card to do so, so sure enough, I ordered one. And today, I have no regrets; I keep music on it for local playback (since music streaming can still be spotty at times) and a few movies and photos that can be swapped from device to device seamlessly. In short: if you're a power user, you'll put the storage to good use - even if you don't think you need it.
[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Giveaway: Want To Learn How To Develop For Android, But Don't Like Books? Try Android App Development Fundamentals LiveLessons
Giveaway: Want To Learn How To Develop For Android, But Don't Like Books?
It's no secret that we work with a number of publishers to give away a steady stream of books to aid aspiring developers - after all, if we help developers, the entire Android ecosystem as a whole is enriched. But for some people, simply reading a book isn't the ideal way to learn. It's for these people that informIT has released Android App Development Fundamentals LiveLessons - a series of downloadable videos that are designed to teach Java developers how to build apps for Android.
I hate the vast majority of rumors. About the only time I give a them any real consideration is when they're coming from a source that's highly reliable and they strike me as reasonable. It's for this reason I've stayed clear of the relative boatload of Galaxy S III rumors that we've been hearing for about a week now - first a potential render leaked (though we didn't like the looks of it). Next, an alleged Samsung employee leaked a photo of the SGSIII, then we heard a rumor that the device may feature inductive charging, and finally, we debunked a "leaked image" of the phone yesterday. In a nutshell: SGSIII fever is running rampant, and that's probably not a good thing.
[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Book Giveaway #16: Take Your Developing Skills To The Next Level With One Of Ten Copies Of Pro Android 4
Book Giveaway #16: Take Your Developing Skills To The Next Level
Let's be honest, there isn't exactly a shortage of Android apps. What there is a shortage of, though, is quality Android apps. You know, apps with great interfaces, support for new features (such as ActionBar), and formats (tablets, TV, etc.) Part of the problem could simply be that a lot of the people developing (cr)apps for Android aren't experienced developers... or if they are experienced devs, they don't know how to get the most from the OS. Luckily, Apress has just just updated one of their most popular books, Pro Android 4, which is written for developers looking to move into mobile - and to teach them the finer points of Android.
Madfinger Games has just rolled out an update to their uber-hit third-person shooter Shadowgun, and this time around they have included more than just some bug fixes. The most significant aspect of the update is a new free expansion called "The Leftover" - check out the trailer:
Two weeks ago, the judge in Apple's case against Motorola ordered Google and Moto to hand over details on Android development. Naturally, Motorola appealed, and managed to change Judge Posner's mind. While the company isn't getting away scot-free (or at least, not yet), he did say that "[Apple's] motion is vague and overbroad and Motorola's objections are persuasive." In other words, Apple needs to tone down their request and make sure things are relevant and specific (or in my words, "Apple needs to stop requesting all the shit they can think of").
It's always nice to see a device update roll out. This time around, we're seeing the details of a new software update for the Droid Charge spring up on Verizon's support page. The update brings things to version FP1, and mainly consists of some bug fixes and minor improvements: