Abhiroop Basu

Abhiroop Basu is an opinionated tech and digital media blogger. As a doe-eyed twenty-something he started his first blog TechComet to comment on anything tech-related that caught his omniscient eye. Since then he has blogged for Android Police, Make Tech Easier, and This Green Machine. In the real world, Abhiroop Basu is a resident of Singapore and the Editor of The Digit, a subsidiary of The Potato Productions Group.

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Feb

Verizon Reinstates Double Data Promotion For 4G LTE Devices From February 10th, Also Offers Buy One Get One Free On Droid Razr And Razr Maxx Phones

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in News, Verizon Wireless

It was disheartening when Verizon found and plugged the loophole that gave users unlimited data, but Big Red's latest promotion may get users flocking to its doorstep once more.

Similar to its earlier double data promotion, new or existing customers will get double the data (4GB in total) when they buy a 4G LTE smartphone from Verizon and sign up for a new $30 data plan, together with voice and texting.

Verizon is also hoping couples will take advantage of its buy one get one free promotion ahead of Valentine's Day. You can pick up a Droid Razr ...

Feb

SFR Reveals Existence Of Android 4.0.5, Confirms ICS Update Roadmap For Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, Galaxy SII And HTC Sensation In March 2012

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Defy+, Galaxy Nexus / Nexus Prime, Galaxy Pro, Galaxy S II, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid), Xperia Arc (Anzu, X12), Xperia Mini / Mini Pro (Smultron / Mango), Xperia Ray (Urushi, ST18i)

Just days after hearing about the leaked release of Android 4.0.4 for the Nexus 4G, French mobile phone company SFR has not only announced (Google Translate) which devices will be getting ICS in the coming months, it has also confirmed the existence of Android 4.0.5.

According to its post, the Samsung Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S will be receiving an OTA update to Android 4.0.5 sometime in March, while the HTC Sensation and Galaxy SII will be updated to Android 4.0. In addition, a number of older Android devices, including the LG Optimus Black, HTC Desire S, ...

Feb

Galaxy Note Phablet Available For Pre-Order From AT&T And Best Buy US And Canada

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in AT&T, Galaxy Note, News

Ever since Samsung announced the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note phone/tablet, we've had a lot of fun coming up with endearing names for this "tweener" device. It's certainly an interesting device and North American customers can finally get their hands on it in the next few weeks.

As promised by AT&T, the Galaxy Note is now officially available for pre-order from its website.

Similarly, Best Buy US also has the Note up for pre-order in Carbon Blue and Ceramic White.

Both Best Busy US and AT&T are offering the phablet for $299.99 with a minimum two-year monthly voice ($39.99/month) and ...

Jan

Evernote Update Brings Auto-Titles, Quick Save, And Improved Layout

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, News

I am a big fan of Evernote, using it everyday to manage my to-do list and work on long-term projects. However, over the years this "simple" note-taking suite has expanded with an unwieldy number of features, making it somewhat difficult to manage. So, it is always nice to see an Evernote update for Android that just aims to make the service better without adding further bloat.

The recent update (version 3.5), downloadable from the Android Market, adds smart titles, quick saves, better layout of images, and a number of crucial bug fixes.

My favourite update is the addition of ...

Jan

'Evi' Hopes To Be A Viable Android Alternative To iOS' Siri, But Server Failures Have Gotten It Off To A Rocky Start

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Applications, News

Siri competitors for Android are a dime a dozen, but the latest alternative Evi may have the winning combination of a voice recognition engine that actually understands what you say and what (we hope) appears to be a natural language processor that can figure out what you want.

Unlike a standard search engine which performs keyword searches, Evi aims to answer your query with a specific response. So, for example, if want to know what the capital of France is, you would ask Evi "what is the capital of France?" and Evi would respond "Paris". Evi is also ...

Jan

Developers May Favour Android Over iOS in 2012

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

Although iOS appears to currently be the platform of choice for developers, research firm Ovum suggests that Android is set to surpass it "in terms of importance to developers within the next 12 months".

Traditionally, the Apple App Store has generated higher revenues than the Android Market as users are more likely to download paid apps, thus luring developers. However the Android platform has been incredibly successful in the past few months and the number of app downloads have been significant, so it comes as no surprise that developers are bullish on Android's prospects in 2012.

Additionally, according to ...

Jan

Celebrate The Year Of The Dragon With Dead Zebra's New Android Figurines

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in News

Xin Nian Kuai Le, or Happy Chinese New Year! Our favourite figurine maker Dead Zebra has decided to welcome in the Year of the Dragon by bringing to you a family of three Android mini-collectibles, representing Fortune (祿), Blessing (福), and Longevity (壽)!

These colourful figurines are the brainchild of British-born artist Andrew Bell, whose work includes illustrations, paintings, toys, and sculptures.

The Android mini-collectibles will be sold in sets of 3 for $29. You can pick them up from the Dead Zebra shop on Wednesday, January 25th from 11AM EST. A second batch will go on sale ...

Jan

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ASUS Transformer Prime OTA Update Rolling Out, Supposedly Fixes GPS Woes

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Since launch, the ASUS Transformer Prime's GPS issues have hampered an otherwise stellar tablet. To make matters worse, ASUS confirmed that the problem was due to the Prime's all-aluminium construction, indicating that a software fix was unlikely. Indeed ASUS was forced to release a new version of the Prime (TF700T), with an updated back panel to improve the GPS functionality. However, ASUS has not given up all hope on the original Prime as a new OTA update (V9.4.2.7) is rolling out, which could fix the GPS drivers.

The OTA update has not gone live for everyone and in ...

Jan

Motorola Motoluxe & Defy Mini Available Now For Pre-Order From Clove; Defy+ JCB Edition Also In Stock

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Motorola, News

Motorola recently announced two entry-level Android smartphones for the Chinese, European, and Latin American markets, the Defy Mini and the Motoluxe. Both devices are now available for pre-order on Clove, and they are expected to ship in late February/early March.

The Motoluxe is priced at £215 (£258 inc. VAT).

The Defy Mini is priced at £145.83 (£174.99 inc. VAT).

Additionally, Motorola have teamed up with UK-based construction manufacturer JCB to give the "rugged" Defy+ a makeover. The new "Defy+ JCB Edition" is similar, spec-wise, to the earlier Defy+ model, however it now comes cocooned in a "visco-elastic protective ...

Jan

CyanogenMod Releases CM9 Alpha 0 For The HP Touchpad

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in News, Tablets, TouchPad

The CyanogenMod team recently teased us with a video of CM9 running on the Touchpad and now it looks like their efforts have culminated in the first Alpha ("Alpha 0") release of CM9 for the WebOS tablet.

The earlier CM7 Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 builds were quite buggy and not really ready for primetime use, but the latest CM9 release is a whole "*two* CyanogenMods better", bringing Ice Cream Sandwich goodness to the Touchpad. However, CM9 is still Alpha 0, which means "'zero hardware-accelerated video', 'zero camera', and 'zero support!'". In addition, the audio "is a mess", the microphone ...