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Cameron Summerson

Cameron is a self-made geek, Android enthusiast, horror movie fanatic, and musician. When he's not pounding keys here at AP, you can find him spending time with his wife and kids, plucking away on the 6-string, or watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on repeat.

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Jan

Republic Wireless Releases 'Wi-Fi+' App To The Play Store, Helps Customers Get Better Service

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Republic Wireless

If you're a Republic Wireless customer, then you probably already know an OTA update started rolling out yesterday to the company's Motorola Defy XT (which also happens to break root – you can remedy that problem here). As a result of the update, Republic Wireless has also released an app into the Play Store that improves the reception on the DXT by adding a few enhancements to the way it manages calls and network connectivity.

Devicescape - In July of last year, we announced a partnership with Devicescape to take advantage of their Wi-Fi access work. It has been a long road getting here, but this is the first fruit of that partnership.

Jan

Switch To A U.S. Cellular Family Plan And Get A $300 Mastercard Debit Card

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, US Cellular

The title basically says it all: if you're thinking of switching to U.S. Cellular as your family's mobile provider, the company will give you a $300 Mastercard debit card. All you have to do is sign a new two-year agreement with the regional carrier for two or more lines of service, one of which must be a smartphone. Past that, it's a done deal. You get new phones and service, they give you $300.

Here's the best part: there's no minimum purchase price on the phones, and the deal is good on any data plan of $20 or higher. Naturally, the account must remain in good standing to receive the debit card.

Jan

[Update: Winner!] Win A Samsung Galaxy Note II (N7100) From Handy Apps And Android Police

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, Contests / Giveaways, Galaxy Note II

Last Updated: February 8th, 2013

When it comes to online safety and passwords, I live and die by a password manager. I use one on my PCs, as well as my Android smartphones and tablets. This way, I always have my passwords with me, and I only have to remember one (to get into the password manager). In fact, I've never even seen some of my passwords when I use a generator.

This contest is now over.

The final results are listed below. If you've won, you will be contacted in the near future. Congratulations!

Everyone else - keep participating and stay tuned to Android Police so that you don't miss our upcoming giveaway announcements.

Jan

OUYA Manages To Wrangle 166 Game Prototypes In Its 'CREATE' Game Development Competition

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

Back on January 17th, OUYA announced a new contest called CREATE to motivate game developers to get their hands dirty and spend a little time (read: a lot) working on a some prototype games for the console. The entries are in, and there's a staggering 166 videos worth of alpha-esque gameplay for Kill Screen – who partnered with OUYA for this promotion – to sort through.

Among those titles, you'll find platformers, dungeon crawlers, action RPGs, brawlers, shooters, word games, puzzles, and more, according to OUYA. That's quite the impressive list.

So, how are the winners chosen, what do they win, and some other third thing?

Jan

New SwiftKey Flow Beta Now Available, Allows 'Flowing' In Basically All Text Fields, Better Corrections, And Tons More

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Finally! Since the first SwiftKey Flow beta hit the scene, the inability to "flow" in all texts fields has been driving me crazy. Thank God that's been fixed in the newest beta. Phew.

We're likely getting closer to a final release of Flow, so this beta appears to be more about polish and less about features – and that's a good thing. Aside from the ability to Flow anywhere, it also brings easier corrections, new languages, a new theme, and more. Here's a look at the full changelog:

Changes in this version:
* Predictions (and Flow) now on in most places (exceptions: email fields, passwords, anywhere where the app doesn’t behave itself with SK, fields offering their own corrections on Android versions <= 2.2)
* Easier corrections – just tap on the word and SwiftKey will offer you 3 possibilities
* New languages: Thai, Vietnamese, Bosnian, Albanian, Javan, Sundanese (plus those added in 3.1)
* Features from SwiftKey 3.1: Berry theme, split layout in landscape on phones, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Hindi, Hinglish, Irish, Macedonian, Spanish (Latin America) and Tagalog
* New layouts for Hindi and Russian
* Ukrainian landscape layout fixed
* Backspacing on to the final word of a multi word prediction (Flow through space) will now give better alternatives
* Typing style now inferred rather than a setting
* Long press delete accelerates after the first word

Bugs fixed:
* Flowing off shift no longer triggers a change in shift state
* Flow no longer gets stuck when you flow off the bottom of a page
* Quick period working after single letter words
* Arrow key repeats
* Learning when sending messages or tabbing between fields with the enter key fixed
* Azeri capital i behavior corrected
* Estonian will now predict words containing ö
* Fixed force close on Beta predictions
* Flow trace no longer left behind after flowing
* Mounting an SD card will turn predictions off only if SwiftKey language packs are stored on that SD card
* Keyclick sounds no longer doubled
* Haptic duration made consistent with flow on and off

Woo, that's a big'un.

Jan

[Exclusive] One-Click Root For The Republic Wireless Motorola Defy XT (Single- And Dual-Band) With The Newest OTA (1_65K_1027) Or Older

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Republic Wireless

At 6:00 PM EST today, Republic Wireless will be releasing an OTA update for its single- and dual-band Motorola Defy XT. While the update will bring a slew of enhancements to the device, it also brings a not-so-desirable "fix:"breaking the root exploit uncovered by jcase back in December. That means if you're already rooted, you'll lose root during the update process, and if you haven't yet rooted, the old method will no longer work. Bummer.

However, there's light at the end of the tunnel: jcase has already found a new exploit, rooted the device, and packaged a fully open source one-click apk named Cyanide that will do all the dirty work for you.

Jan

Sprint Announces The Kyocera Torque, Its First Ruggedized 4G LTE Smartphone

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News, Sprint, Torque

Sprint this morning announced plans to offer a new ultra-rugged Kyocera smartphone with Direct Connect "this spring." The device – dubbed Torque – offers the standard features expected from a ruggedized phone, including water resistance, dust prevention, and drop protection. That means you'll be able to drop it in the toilet, use it during a sandstorm, or throw it out of frustration without fear of shattering it into pieces.

If you want specifics, the Torque can be submerged in meter-deep water for up to 30 minutes, handle temperatures from –22 to 140 degrees for three hours, stay safe from "heavy dust" for up to six hours, and be dropped more than 20 times from a height of four feet.

Jan

Samsung Announces Special Garnet Red Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, Available For A Limited Time

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, News

If you like red, and you like Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, then this may just be the best Monday you'll have all week. Why? Because Samsung just unveiled a Special Edition Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 in – wait for it – Garnet Red. Exciting stuff, I know.

So, what's new with this Tab? Aside from the color, nothing. Nothing at all. Under that shiny red exterior, it's the same Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 that we've all come to know and love – or at least kinda like – over the last nine months.

7" 1024x600 TFT display
1GHz dual-core TI processor
1GB RAM
8GB built-in storage, microSD card slot
3.2MP rear shooter, VGA front camera
0.41" x 4.8" x 7.6", 0.76lbs.

Jan

[Update: Sprint's, Too] Verizon Galaxy Note II Gets Its First Official CyanogenMod 10.1 Nightly

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Galaxy Note II, News, Verizon Wireless

When I was a kid, my grandfather used to always say "last to market, last to get official builds of CyanogenMod." Seems the old man's wisdom once again proves to be true, as official CM 10.1 nightlies just showed up for Verizon's variant of the Galaxy Note II.

Update: Looks like Sprint's version of the Note II just got CM10.1, too.

For those of you who own said Note II, this means you can finally get away from Samsung's Playskool-inspired Technicolor UI and experience Android in its natural form. Well, maybe not entirely natural, but you and I both know the enhancements added by the CM team are useful, lightweight, and simply make the Android experience better.

Jan

[Deal Alert] Lowest Price Yet For The DROID RAZR HD: It's Free At Wirefly For Upgrades Only

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Deals, News, RAZR HD / RAZR MAXX HD, Verizon Wireless

Most of the time when we post a good deal – especially on a free phone – it's typically for new customers. In a rare event, though, Wirefly has turned that deal on its head by making the RAZR HD free for upgrades only. New customers will still have to shell out $50 for the same devices. It's a pretty good deal either way, but it's particularly killer for existing Verizon customers.