David Ruddock
Contributing since June, 2010
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3358articles
Page 139
About David Ruddock
David is the former Editor-in-Chief of Android Police and now the EIC of Esper.io. He's been an Android user since the early days - his first smartphone was a Google Nexus One! David graduated from the University of California, Davis where he received his bachelor's degree, and also attended the Pepperdine University School of Law.
Latest Articles
Welcome to the week in review - Android Police's weekly news roundup for all things Android and Android Police. Don't like reading? You can catch a lot of these topics on our weekly podcast, here, as well.
Facebook for Android has been updated to version 1.9, bringing performance improvements (read: faster feed scrolling), a some new picture sharing and messaging features. You may not be able to get it quite yet on the device Play Store, but forcing the download from the web Play Store should do the trick, as usual. Here's the changelog:
Welcome back to the Android Police Podcast, the only official semi-official audio source for all things Android. This week, we're talking about Samsung's trademarking addiction, Read It Later (Pocket), and dongles. Your favorite hosts Matthew Smith, Cameron Summerson, Bob Severns and myself are flying solo this week, but we'll have Eric Ravenscraft back on the show for the next episode.
[Lightning Review] Nocs NS200 Android Earbuds: Solid Hi-Fi Equipment, On The Cheap
Nocs NS200 Android Earbuds: Solid Hi-Fi Equipment, On The Cheap
Lately, I've been listening to a lot of headphones as part of my hardware review routine. I've listened to expensive ones. Slightly less expensive ones. Hilariously cheap ones. You get the picture.
After what was a pretty obvious application of the ICANN anti-squatting policy, it seems Google has now gained control of GooglePlay.com from an ad-serving Japanese squatter. Google filed a complaint under ICANN anti-squatting regulations, and after the case's short stint at the National Arbitration Forum (a non-court but legally binding decision-making body in the US), Google now shows as the registrant of GooglePlay.com.
Sony is a company going through major changes - it recently announced plans to lay off 10,000 plus of its workers (some of those through buyouts), has instated a new CEO, and just had one of its worst fiscal years ever. It also recently ended its Android smartphone partnership with Ericsson, and plans to now produce handsets under its own name. It's a difficult and uncertain time for Sony, and the Walkman Z, unfortunately, seems to be an excellent microcosm of the company's larger problems.
An Android phone is like a Leatherman Tool. It does a lot of things - without a doubt, a triumph of function over form. Android is the world's most versatile mobile operating system, the most tweakable, the most adaptable, and the most fully-featured. It just does more than any other comparable product out there. But if Android is a Leatherman, the iPhone is the basic Swiss Army Knife - compact, simple, iconic, and good enough for the vast majority of people, even if it does do a little less.
We know you don't always have time to read up on the latest Android stories every day - we can barely keep up ourselves at times. So, deep in the bowels of the Android Police test labs, we came up with a solution: bringing you all of the last week's important news in one convenient location. We call it the Android Police Week In Review - and you can also catch most of the news contained here in our weekly podcast (check it out, here).
It's podcast time - this week Matt, Bob, Cameron, Artem, myself, and our newest presenter Liam Spradlin all talk about things that have at least some tangential relation to Android. In this week's episode, we talk Nook GlowTouch, EVO 4G LTE, and upgrade fees. Check out the covered content in the outline below, and scroll to the bottom of the page for Soundcloud and RSS subscription info to listen.
eReaders have long been plagued with the problem of being damn near useless in low-light scenarios, but thanks to the recently announced NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLight, those days are finally past us. Using a front-lit (as opposed to backlit, which doesn't really work with eInk) display, the new Simple Touch eReader allows you to enjoy the pleasure of eInk reading without having to worry about adequate ambient lighting.
Saving money is a good thing. And there's always something empowering about making a purchase where you feel like you really got your dollar's worth - especially in the world of consumer electronics.
Google Currents is probably the single best-looking Android app Google puts out, and since its initial release, it has also been so slow to sync that it's practically useless. But no longer - Currents has received its first major update, and rather than drag this thing out, I'll just present you with the changelog:
Oh, RIM. You're hemorrhaging customers, executives, and share value. It's painfully obvious you're on track for a disaster of Palm-proportions. And still, your upper-level management fling zingers at the competition that would make anyone but the die-hardest of BlackBerry fans skip the facepalm and go straight to a facedesk. It's almost like watching a Shakespearean tragedy unfold.
In a move that is going to surprise approximately no one who knows anything about selling smartphones, HTC has indicated to CNET that it no longer plans to bundle Beats headphones with its handsets.
Budget smartphones are a lot like those miniature cans of Coca-Cola you'll find on supermarket shelves - cheaper by the half-dozen than their higher-volume counterparts, but with the obvious catch that you're getting less sweet, delicious corn-juice for your dollar. It doesn't take more than 30 seconds to stop, think about this, and realize that even if you won't finish the big 12oz can during your lunch (or don't want to drink that much soda), you're still basically paying more for choosing to buy less.
The Android Police Podcast is back for another week of... whatever it is we do. Let's get down to it, this week's topics are:
When it comes to rumors, the day before the press conference announcing a device often turns out to be the most reliable. Just such a rumor has landed today, in the form of a purported "press photo" of Sprint's EVO One (at least, that's the rumored name).
Haven't filed your taxes yet? Maybe it's a good thing you waited, because this weekend only TurboTax is offering Android users a free Basic or Deluxe return through their Android app, including the Kindle Fire version on the Amazon Appstore. This includes a federal and state return (savings of $87 for Deluxe, $107 for Premier, $127 for Home and Business).
In the world of premium headphones, there is an emerging market for "designer" products - a niche Beats By Dre has been all too happy to fill in cooperation with Monster Cable (until now - HTC will be taking over Beats' headphone production). In fact, Beats accounts for over half of the $1 billion headphone market in the US - succeeding in ways and in markets brands like Sennheiser and Grado could only dream of. My high school-going younger brother even has a pair of these flashy phones - and he really doesn't listen to much music.
Clarification: Yes, it is 5 million sold to end consumers, officially confirmed by Samsung to Phone Scoop.