David Ruddock  
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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. |
Looking for a cheap (read: free) way to get your digital magazine fix? Zinio has extended its $50 digital 'zine credit promo until the end of this month, and you can cash in on this offer right here (you have to make a new Zinio account). Zinio also has an Android app (Play Store link below), so you can read said digital magazines on pretty much any modern Android device.
As I said, this offer only lasts until the end of the month, so get it while the getting is good.
Zinio via Slickdeals
Take everything you know about mobile browsers today and throw it out the window - that's the premise of Opera's new 'Ice' browser, set to debut publicly at MWC next month. Before I even get into what it is that makes Ice so cool, watch this video of the brief demo at Opera HQ:
The premise of Ice is simplicity. No unneeded menus, no unneeded buttons, and no wasted space. I honestly think this is cool enough to be a game-changing product in the mobile browser space (assuming the execution is as smooth as we're seeing here). It's being developed for both iOS and Android.
For those of us using the Latin alphabet (or something at least slightly similar), handwriting our search queries probably seems a little tedious. However, if you're in the CJK group (Chinese, Japanese, Korean), things get a little harder on a software keyboard when your written language relies on myriad intricate characters. So, a while back, Google introduced handwriting recognition to mobile search, though the focus wasn't really on those languages specifically at the time.
Since then, it's apparently become clear to Goog that this feature is really catching on among the more intricate written languages, and some new features have been introduced to make handwriting search a little easier and faster.
Tired of living in TouchWiz's Crayola nightmare on your AT&T LTE GSM Galaxy Note II? CyanogenMod to the rescue yet again - official nightly builds have landed, based on CyanogenMod 10.1. This build will work with the AT&T and T-Mobile Galaxy Note II's in the US, and international versions of the Galaxy Note 2 LTE that are compatible with GSM carriers. Specifically, models GT-N7105, SGH-I317, and SGH-T889. This build will not work with the international Note II 3G (GT-N7100). Support for CDMA versions is still being worked on (sorry, Verizon and Sprint Note II owners).
You can find detailed flashing instructions in this XDA thread, and known issues with the current build here (Bluetooth audio, for example, doesn't work).
Since day one of availability, everyone's question about the Nexus 4 launch has been - in essence - what went wrong? Well, a lot of things. But number one on that list has been the very limited supply of phones available for purchase.
Recently, LG's head of mobile in France Cathy Robin was interviewed by French publication Challenges, shedding some light on the availability issue. Now, you could read a Google translation, but we all know how that goes - things get lost. Fortunately, Reddit user floflo81 has actually posted a human-translated version of the interview, which you can read here.
Do you take your retro gaming seriously? Like, 1990 isn't actually retro seriously? Then you're in for a welcome bit of news: the 1983 classic Lode Runner has been ported to Android (yes, it's legit / authorized).
The classic puzzle platformer has been on iOS for some time, but is just now landing on our OS of choice. Unfortunately, I can't vouch for just how committed the port is - the developer couldn't even be bothered to generate Android-specific screenshots, and that's rarely a good omen. However, given the size of the app (24MB), and the 15 minute return window, trying it out for a few minutes before you commit to giving up your hard-earned $3 for good is certainly feasible.
You can now count Sony among the smartphone manufacturers that have promised to narrow their portfolios, and move away from featurephones and other very cheap handsets.
Sony's CEO, Kazuo Hirai, speaking to Bloomberg, had this to say.
"We basically are out of the feature-phone business and in the Android-based smartphone business ... We are more in toward the high end of the market as opposed to trying to get into the commoditized portion."
So, what does that... mean, exactly? Sony's going to focus its phone business on the part of the phone market that's profitable? Shocker. Really, Hirai is just reiterating the company's new brand initiative - pushing Sony products as "premium" with unilaterally premium pricing.
The official OTA update to Android 4.2 for the Sprint Galaxy Nexus has just hit Google's servers, and you can grab the build (GA02) right now. Here's a direct download link, originally found on XDA. Sextape at SXTP Developers posted yesterday indicating that a leaked version of this build would end up as the final OTA release. Here's the detailed build info:
post-build=samsung/mysidspr/toroplus:4.2.1/JOP40D/L700GA02:user/release-keys
md5: 4a023ce78c17c8256dfec8ae0615707f
File size: 102,838,616 bytes
So, now you're wondering how you go about flashing this build, right? Well, you can do it now, but it's not a one-step affair. I've placed instructions below, but proceed at your own risk - the OTA update will probably be going out through Sprint fairly soon, too.
Google unleashed a handful of updates to various apps this afternoon on the Play Store, though don't get too excited - none are particularly groundbreaking.
Most significant was an update to Google TV, which brings the app to version 1.6, adding a 'simplified player screen,' and the ability to send YouTube videos from your phone or tablet directly to your TV.
Next up was the Play Movies & TV app, but we're not even sure what's changed, because there's no changelog yet (the current one about availability in 11 countries is old).
The DROID DNA is a phone I have little trouble recommending to most people, even if I can't say it's my very favorite piece of hardware out there. A 5" 1080p display, quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, great build quality, Verizon's near-ubiquitous LTE coverage - there's a lot to like about this phone. At $200 on contract, I might even say it's kind of a good deal already. But that wasn't low enough for Amazon. After dropping to $150 on contract back in December, Amazon has slashed another $50 off the DNA's price tag for new customers. You can pick one up for just $99 if you're a new Verizon subscriber, and if you're upgrading, the price remains a reasonable $149.
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