Artem Russakovskii
Artem is a die-hard Android fan, passionate tech blogger, obsessive-compulsive editor, bug hunting programmer, and the founder of Android Police.
Most of the time, you will find Artem either hacking away at code or thinking of the next 15 blog posts.

24
Jan
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A couple of weeks ago at CES 2011, Sony Ericsson announced its latest Android handset - the sleek and sexy Gingerbread-running Xperia Arc. They've also invited the press, Android Police included, to attend a media breakfast where we ended up spending over an hour of quality time with the new device, documented in great detail here. If you have questions about the Arc, I highly recommend you dive into the above post, as it contains a plethora of useful bits and pieces, all wrapped in a convenient package.

Though the Arc was promised to land in consumers' hands sometime in Q1 2011 and no review units have been sent out just yet, the writers from an Italian blog HDBlog.it managed to get their hands on both the Misty Silver and Midnight Blue models and give the hardware and the interface a very thorough walkthrough.

22
Jan
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Last Updated: April 16th, 2011

You didn't think Toshiba would let Motorola take jabs at Apple without throwing one of its own, did you?

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Motorola called the iPad a giant iPhone back in December

Remember the Toshiba Tablet teaser site we found yesterday? Here is what happens when you visit it from an iOS device:

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Such a Shame.

Add this to the list of the interesting places on the internet you can't see on your device. Of course, if you had a Toshiba Tablet you would enjoy the entire internet. Yep, Flash sites too.

Nicely done, Toshiba, besides the fact that, you know, nobody has the said Toshiba Tablet because it hasn't been released or even given a name yet.

22
Jan
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Truly stylish clock/date widgets of high quality are hard to come by, so whenever we see one released, we jump on it right away. Today's highlight is Typography Wall that was just released into the Android Market.

Typography Wall is actually a live wallpaper that comes with a variety of configurable elements, by default set up exactly the way you see below. You can use it without any modifications or jump right into changing things, from using your own background to changing transparency, rotation, blinking, positioning, and other aspects of each element. Such powerful customizations are made possible thanks to an absolutely brilliant OwnSkin framework that this LWP uses - in fact, it looks like anyone can create a live wallpaper using this free framework.

20
Jan
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Launcher Pro, my favorite launcher replacement, got updated today with a much requested feature - homescreen transition animations, available to all LP users, not just Plus. In addition to the usual and very smooth slide effect, we now have 4 more: Scale, Rotate, Flip, and Cube. All are smooth, except for the Cube transition, so I would advise against using it until Fede makes it a bit more snappy. Out of 5 transitions (including the regular slide), my favorite is definitely Flip. What's yours?

Excuse the poor frame rate in the screencast - unfortunately, that's ShootMe's max for the time being

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Source: Launcher Pro

20
Jan
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In the past few weeks, we've seen multiple accusations portraying Samsung as the bad guy in the Galaxy S Froyo upgrade drama in the U.S. First, there were many delays, followed by the update finally rolling out pretty much everywhere outside the U.S. Then, all anonymous and unconfirmed, an accusation that T-Mo's new Vibrant 4G was the reason for the, possibly indefinite, delay and a report that Samsung charges U.S. carriers for Android updates, later denied by Samsung.

As it turns out, the truth is much less complicated, although we can't say for sure the recent hubbub that undoubtedly did some damage to Samsung's Android reputation didn't accelerate today's events.

19
Jan
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I have a soft spot for well done demoes, even if they exist only in concept form, and today's design by Kristian Ulrich Larsen fits right into this category (did you really expect anything else from a designer with such an awesome name?).

If you liked Mozilla's Seabird concept, you're going to love the Flip Phone, which features 3 flexible, curved AMOLED screens connected by "soft steel mesh hinges," which allow this device to morph into multiple configurations, each offering something different to its user. It has a keyboard (and a pretty sexy one at that) and a camera. Who needs a dedicated kickstand when it can stand on its own?

19
Jan
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After weeks of frantic coding, SwiftKey, my favorite smart aftermarket Android keyboard, just released a private beta to all registered VIP forum members. While the beta itself (v1.98.1.172) is private and we can't provide you with a download link, what we can do is list all of the improvements and tease you with some screenshots.

Update: While we can't promise anything, our friendly contact at SwiftKey who I just spoke to indicated that technically if you did apply for the VIP program (i.e. their forum membership) right now, there is a chance you could get approved. Just remember who hooked you up when your fingers are in heaven.

19
Jan
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Out of all the apps that require root privileges, I probably use ShootMe the most. Before today's update, it was the best and easiest way to take a screenshot anywhere in Android without hooking it up to a computer - just turn the program on, go to the screen you want to take a snapshot of, shake the device, and ShootMe snaps the picture. After today's update, however, ShootMe is no longer just a screenshot app - it's also a screencasting app. That's right, you can now use ShootMe to record videos of whatever you're doing on your Android device, up to 10 frames per second.

18
Jan
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Last Updated: January 26th, 2011

Kongregate.com, snatched up by GameStop last year, is one of the most popular time-killing websites in the world, with hundreds of original Flash games to entertain visitors for hours. It was only a matter of time for the company to bring the most mobile friendly of those games directly to Android in a single easy-to-consume package, called Kongregate Arcade.

Update #1: As many of you noticed, the app has been pulled from the Market. Apparently, even Kongregate doesn't know why just yet, as they've issued the following statement:

"As reported earlier today, the Kongregate Arcade app was launched on the Android Market and was enthusiastically received by the gaming community, receiving 4.5 out of 5 stars.