David Ruddock
David's phone is an HTC One X+. He is an avid writer, and enjoys imparting a legal perspective on Android news where it is relevant. He also doesn't usually write such boring sentences.

22
May
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Rant: CTIA 2013 - Why You Didn't See Any Android Police Stories Out Of "America's Largest Mobile Event"

Posted by in Editorials

CTIA is, supposedly, the largest tech convention focused on mobile in the United States. In fact, it has generally been one of Verizon and Sprint's favored handset launch venues in recent years. The EVO 4G was announced at CTIA. So was the EVO 3D. The Galaxy Tab 8.9. The DROID Incredible 4G. Even last year's relatively low-key show brought a few noteworthy nuggets.

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This year, though, is a wasteland. The only new handsets launched were a couple of ruggedized Kyoceras with absolutely dismal specifications. And the show floor itself is insufferably dull - here's who doesn't have a booth at CTIA 2013.

17
May
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Two Weeks With The BlackBerry Z10, From An Android Perspective

Posted by in Other Reviews

It's very easy to look at BlackBerry and see a technological Neandertal - the company that almost had it ("it" being smartphones), but then refused to evolve in order to keep up with the competition. Let's not mince words: the iPhone nearly killed BlackBerry, and Android is happily hammering the nails into its coffin.

After the disastrous Storm and Storm 2, few thought BlackBerry had the chops to break into full-touch devices in a big way, at least until Android really started taking off. At that point, it became clear pretty much anyone could make a half-decent smartphone, as long as the software was up to snuff (admittedly, that's about 95% of making a smartphone these days).

16
May
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Hangouts Hangover: Here Are The Major Issues Google Has Promised To Fix In Hangouts... At Some Point

Posted by in Android OS, Applications, News

Hey, have you heard? Google Hangouts is now a thing. And by a thing, I mean Google's new universal, cross-platform chat solution. Ron's closer look hands-on should give you an idea of how Hangouts works (and how it doesn't). But the launch of Google's Talk / G+ Messenger replacement hasn't gone entirely smoothly, and there remain a few bumps to be ironed out - bumps Google has promised to fix. So here's what we know so far.

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A full rollout of the app is coming over the next "several days."

Google added a note to the app description for Hangouts indicating that the app would not be available to everyone immediately, and that even if you installed the app, opening it might take you to the old Google Talk interface.

16
May
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Sprint HTC One Getting First OTA Update (1.29.651.10): Supposedly Fixes Dreaded Capacitive Button Sensitivity Issues

Posted by in Device Updates, One, Sprint

Sprint's version of the HTC One is about to receive a much-needed OTA update, albeit a relatively minor one, that promises to fix the rather annoying home and back button sensitivity issues that have been afflicting the handset. I commented on this issue in my review of the One, and while I called it minor then, the more I used the phone, the more annoying it become in certain situations - particularly when holding the phone while lying down.

The issue seemed to be that the touch targets for the capacitive buttons were set far too close to the display, and the pad of your finger would often need to hit the area between what you would expect to be the strike zone and the edge of the visible display on the phone in order to register a tap.

16
May
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The Android Police Podcast LIVE (5/16/13)

Posted by in News, Podcast

Welcome to the Android Police Podcast Live for Thursday, May 16th! We'll be starting soon - if you don't see a YouTube player, we haven't begun.

Welcome to the home of the Android Police Podcast's live broadcast. We're live every Thursday at 5PM PST (8PM EST) - or perhaps a few minutes after that - every week. This post will be stickied on the Android Police homepage whenever we're broadcasting, so if you see it, we're either live right now, or about to be!

If it's 5PM and this week's show is not yet live, please stand by! You can hang in the IRC chatroom below.

15
May
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[I/O 2013] Google Unveils New Version Of Maps App For Android w/ New Navigation UI, Looks Absolutely Gorgeous

Posted by in Applications, News

Google just announced that a brand-new Google maps smartphone experience will be landing on Android and iOS soon, and it looks astoundingly good. The aesthetics of 2D street maps have been completely redesigned to be easier on the eyes, and better at organizing information. The only downside is that it's not coming until "this summer."

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Nearly every aspect of the Maps app has been reworked. Zagat ratings are no longer the default ratings system for places (it's now a 1-5 star user rating), and place cards have an all-new look. I really can't go through every single change, because it seems like Google's had its hands in every corner of the APK.

15
May
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[I/O 2013] Google Search App Updated: Set Voice Reminders, See Suggested Content, And Real-Time Transit Info

Posted by in Applications, News

Google's official Search app (aka Google Now) for Android has been updated with a few new features, though they're pretty awesome ones. First, voice reminders are finally live - you can now say, for example, "remind me to buy milk this evening" or "remind me to take out the trash when I get home." I think we can all agree that's kind of amazing.

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The second new feature is suggested content, in the form of upcoming books, music, TV, and video games you might be interested in. Presumably, this is based on your email and search history. Finally, real-time public transit updates are coming for select cities.

15
May
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[Live Blog] Android Police's Live Coverage Of The Google I/O 2013 Keynote

Posted by in Android OS, News

Welcome to Android Police's live coverage of the Google I/O 2013 keynote. We'll be bringing you text and photos directly from the Moscone Center in San Francisco, courtesy of Artem, and the rest of the AP team will be on hand to provide commentary and additional details as the keynote progresses. To watch the keynote live on YouTube, head to this URL, or use the embedded video above the ScribbleLive widget.

13
May
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Google Links Gmail, G+, And Drive Storage - Gmail Now Comes With 15GB Of Shared Storage By Default, Caps Removed

Posted by in News

Google has finally integrated storage between its three most data-intensive consumer platforms: Gmail, Google Drive, and Google+. The result? 5 extra GB of total Gmail storage, and 15GB of shared space among the three. This means you're no longer limited to 5GB of Google+ / Drive space, but all three services will now share the same "bucket."

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For hardcore Gmail addicts, this comes with an added bonus: all Google Drive storage tiers now apply to your Gmail storage cap. That means a 100GB plan now means 100GB of potential Gmail storage, whereas Gmail had previously been capped at 25GB total storage with the old plans (some legacy plans may have had more than 25GB of Gmail storage).

13
May
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Some Qualcomm-Powered Galaxy S4 Handsets Are Producing Terrible Audio Clipping With Headphones

Posted by in Galaxy S4, News

A 14-page XDA thread, thorough analysis by an audio engineer, and a 100+ comment Reddit thread have revealed that some of Samsung's Galaxy S4 handsets are experiencing serious sonic problems with certain headphones.

Headphone audio on smartphones is something we rarely think too much about, because, well, most people don't really care. As long a smartphone produces sound that is listenable and loud enough, your average Joe isn't particular concerned about the quality. But according to a growing number of individuals, some Galaxy S4 handsets powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 600 chipset are basically unusable with certain headphones.

The problem typically manifests itself as a particularly unpleasant "clipping," which most people would describe as crackling, buzzing, or popping.

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