Abhiroop Basu - 4/19 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

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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Jan

TiVo Releases Hotly Anticipated Android App

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Applications, News

Along with a software update to the TiVo Premiere DVR, Margret Schmidt VP of TiVo User Experience tweeted the release of their first Android app:

Oh, and the other cool new thing? Android! market.android.com/details?id=com…

— TiVo Margret Schmidt (@tivodesign) January 6, 2012

This comes as great news to TiVo owners as it allows them to control their DVRs from the comfort of their Android 2.1+ phone or 7-inch tablet (the app description makes particular reference to "7-inch tablet").

The app looks to be a great first try with most of the features a TiVo user would want, including:

Browse the channel guide and record shows without exiting the currently running programme
View shows up to 14 days in advance
Schedule and manage TV shows and movie recordings
Search for content over your TV, Netflix, Amazon Instant Video & Blockbuster in an integrated view
Explore information on the cast and crew of the current show
Comment and share information about the show on Facebook and Twitter
Use a TiVo remote control replica (but don't worry you won't have to use this interface as you can use the app's gesture based controls)
Schedule, search, and browse content when you are away form your device

As expected, the app has garnered plenty of favourable reviews, however its rating is currently at 3.9 owing to a small number of 1 star reviews.

Jan

Acer Iconia Tab A200 Set To Launch On January 15, Will Cost $329.99 For 8GB And $349.99 For 16GB; ICS Upgrade Coming Mid-February

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Iconia Tab A200, News, Tablets

Announced late last year, the Acer Iconia Tab A200 is a slick Tegra 2 Android tablet which will be one of the first Ice Cream Sandwich devices available in the market. The tablet has the following specifications and features:

10.1" multitouch display (1280x800)
1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor
1GB RAM
8GB or 16GB internal memory
2MP front-facing camera
Six-axis motion sensing gyroscope
Full-size USB 2.0 port
Micro-USB port
MicroSD slot
1.5 pounds
Android 3.2 (upgradeable to 4.0)
8 hours battery life

The tablet is set to launch on January 15 in the United States, but Acer has stated in their press-release that the device will be freely upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich in mid-February.

Jan

Rumour: Google To Launch 7-Inch Nexus Tablet In Late Q1 2012

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News, Tablets

Late last year Google chairman Eric Schmidt commented to an Italian newspaper that "in the next six months [Google planned] to market a tablet of the highest quality". His statement generated much speculation primarily over whether Google planned on releasing a self-branded "Nexus" tablet or whether they would merely partner with a device manufacturer, such as Motorola, Samsung, or HTC.

According to a rumour from Taiwanese electronics daily DigiTimes, Google may be preparing to launch an "own-brand tablet PC...targeting Amazon's 7-inch Kindle Fire". Naturally, Google Taiwan has already released a statement indicating that it has "never heard about plans of launching an own-brand tablet PC".

Dec

Android Keeps Rolling Forward: 3.7 Million Devices Activated Over Christmas Weekend

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

Last Updated: January 6th, 2012

Did you give or receive an Android device for Christmas? Even if you did not, it looks like a whole host of people found the green robot under their tree this Christmas. According to a tweet from the ever-so-candid Android head Andy Rubin, 3.7 million Android devices were activated over the 24th and 25th of December.

UPDATE: There were 3.7M Android devices activated on 12/24 and 12/25.

— Andy Rubin (@Arubin) December 28, 2011

Just over a week ago we reported that device activations had hit about 700k a day, which suggests that the Christmas weekend figures of approximately 1.85 million activations, per day, is a significant increase.

Dec

Boom, Baby! Over 700,000 Android Devices Being Activated Every Day

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

Intrepid Google+ user and Android head Andy Rubin mentioned yesterday that there are now over 700,000 Android devices being activated every day.

Wow.

Although it is clearly an astounding number of daily activations, the increase appears to be quite steady. In August it was reported that over 550,000 Android devices were being activated daily, with a total of 150 million devices activated worldwide. In June the number of daily activations was 500,000, while in May it was only 400,000. At this rate of growth, Android is likely to hit 1 million activations per day quite soon.

With such rapid increases in activations, it is no surprise that Android now holds over 50% of the global smartphone market share.

Dec

[New App] Amazon Releases Android App For Students - Compare Prices, Buy, And Trade In Your College Stuff; Six Months Of Free Prime In Tow

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Amazon, Applications, News

Amazon has just launched the Amazon Student app for Android, providing students with an easy way to shop for textbooks, electronics, apparel, and all the other gear they need to survive their college year.

In addition to browsing and buying stuff, the app also features a barcode scanner that gives students a chance to compare prices on anything they intend to buy from a brick and mortar store. The scanner also allows students to scan their old textbooks, games, DVDs, and a million other eligible products to see their current trade-in value. These items can then be shipped to Amazon for Amazon.com Gift Cards.

The iOS version of this app has been out for quite some time now and offers much of the same features as the Android one.

Dec

Kindle For Android v3.3 Now Supports PDF Documents And ICS Devices

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Amazon, Applications, News

Amazon's recent update to its Kindle for Android app brings an important change by allowing native support for reading PDF documents.

Unfortunately, PDF support, as it currently stands, is fairly barebones. Aside from being able to view PDF documents, zoom, and turn pages, the app does not have any other features. Indeed, unlike ordinary ebooks, the PDF portion of the app does not support bookmarks, highlights or the ability to make notes.

The 3.3 update ties in nicely with yesterday's announcement from PDF software maker Foxit that Amazon had made an investment in the company. Although Kindle devices natively supported PDF documents since 2009, reading them has always been a little cumbersome.

Dec

[Monthly Home Screen Challenge] And The November 2011 Winner Is...

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Development, Home Screen Challenge

Last Updated: January 3rd, 2012

Our inaugural Monthly Home Screen Challenge for the month of October was a great success. So much so that we decided to keep the challenge going, and we got some awesome submissions for November. As always, it was tricky picking a winner, and after much deliberation we finally settled on Hotmann, who came up with an interesting take on the periodic table.

Just like last month's challenge, we have taken the winning submission and broken it down into its basic components for your reading/designing pleasure. Enjoy!

Winner - Hotmann

Hotmann's entry can be difficult to comprehend at first, but on closer inspection it is clearly one of the most creative uses of an Android home screen that I have ever seen.

Dec

Apple Instructs Samsung On The Finer Points Of Tablet And Smartphone Design

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Legal, News, Samsung

Apple is famous for crafting beautifully designed products, but it is a little condescending to start giving design advice to its competitors. Nevertheless, this is exactly what Apple has done in a legal brief filed with their earlier request for a ban on Samsung's devices in the United States (a request which was denied by a district judge a few days ago). The legal brief from Apple describes both what their U.S. design patents cover and what the patents do not cover. The latter is especially interesting as they are essentially guidelines on what Samsung can do to avoid being sued in the future.

Dec

Respite For Samsung As U.S. Judge Denies Apple's Request To Block Sales Of Galaxy Devices

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Legal, News, Samsung

The patent wars between Samsung and Apple are stretching everyone pretty thin, lawyers and judges from 10 countries are contending with over 20 cases, manufacturers are having to make last minute adjustments to devices, and most importantly reporters, including yours truly, are having a hard time keeping up with it all.

Bringing the discussion stateside, on Friday a U.S. District Judge in California denied Apple's request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung. Apple had earlier sued Samsung in the U.S. claiming that the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets "slavishly" copied the iPhone and the iPad. However, the Judge disagreed and noted that "it is not clear that an injunction on Samsung's accused devices would prevent Apple from being irreparably harmed".