David Ruddock - 47/142 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

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.

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Nov

Xperia T And TX Receiving OTA Update - Includes Wi-Fi Mirroring, Extended Standby, And HD Voice Support

Posted by David Ruddock in Device Updates, News, Xperia T

The Xperia T and TX, the latter of which I quite recently reviewed, are slated to receive an over-the-air update globally in the next week* (*unless you're on AT&T, in which case the ETA is: haha, good luck), and it's packed with features. Features that do things. Here's the breakdown.

First, Wi-Fi Miracast display mirroring, which is actually a stock feature in Android 4.2. And in case you're wondering - no, this is not an update to Android 4.2, you're still stuck in Ice Cream Sandwich-land.

Next comes an "extended standby mode," which is basically similar to the manner in which HTC Sense 4 phones go into a "deep sleep" overnight, only receiving SMS/MMS messages and phone calls, while turning off mobile data and Wi-Fi connectivity.

Nov

Shadowgun DeadZone To Shoot Its Way Out Of Beta On November 15th, Cheesy Launch Trailer Available Now

Posted by David Ruddock in Games, News, Videos

If you haven't played the Shadowgun: DeadZone beta yet, go do that. Well, if you have a tablet (or Galaxy Note), that is. It's pretty hard to play on a phone. But this is bar-none my current favorite game for Android, and I'm fragging away at it for probably an hour or so every day lately.

The game has been in open beta for around a month now, and after several patches, is apparently just about ready for prime time. The official launch of DeadZone (expected to be free-to-play) will be on November 15th. The only downside is that I'm assuming my rank and unlocked weapons will be going away when the new app is launched.

Nov

Apple Adds Note 10.1 And Galaxy Nexus Jelly Bean Update To Lawsuit Against Samsung

Posted by David Ruddock in Jelly Bean 4.1, Legal, News

In a request to amend its second California lawsuit against Samsung today, Apple asked a judge to the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet, and Android 4.1 as it appears on the Galaxy Nexus.

At first glance, it may seem like Apple is now drawing in the entire Android operating system into the suit, but really, it's been like this from the beginning. The Galaxy Nexus was accused from the date of filing in this lawsuit of infringing eight Apple software patents, and today is still accused of infringing those 8 even with its update to Android 4.1. The most we can glean from this is that Google apparently didn't take very convincing steps to avoid any of Apple's software patents in Android 4.1.

Nov

Verizon And HTC Announce November 13th Event, Of Course It's The DROID DNA

Posted by David Ruddock in DROID DNA, HTC, News, Verizon Wireless

The DROID DNA (or DLX ... or DIX) is a phone we've seen running around in leaked photos and Verizon MAP spreadsheets for some time now, but the date of an official launch has generally been elusive. Evleaks suggested early December, and given today's announcement of a Verizon/HTC event next week, that seems to be an increasingly likely timeframe.

The DROID DNA is largely believed to be a DROIDified version of HTC's J Butterfly, a 5" 1080p, quad-core Snapdragon-packing beast of a phone. Of course, the "J" in J Butterfly stands for Japan [only], so it looks like for the first time in a while Americans may be getting a top-tier HTC phone before Europe, or even Taiwan.

Nov

Green Throttle Throws Its Hat Into The TV + Game Controller + Smartphone Ring, We Try To Be Excited

Posted by David Ruddock in Accessories, Games, News

Hey, does the idea of another company making another proprietary game controller for games that require compatibility with said controller in order to work excite you? No? Me neither. But GreenThrottle, a new startup co-founded by Guitar Hero co-creator Charles Huang and two ex-Palm employees wants you to get excited.

Oh man, they're having so much fun - how could this idea ever not be a success?

Sarcasm aside, GreenThrottle does have the benefit of a more serious team leading its gamepad project, but compared to every other controller / TV gaming solution I've seen, this seems to bring nothing new to the table.

Nov

Google Support Confirms All Android 2.3+ Devices Will Work With Physical Wallet Card And Non-NFC Version Of App

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Applications, News

Corroborating some pretty hard evidence of the physical Google Wallet card's existence we revealed last week, TechCrunch noticed this morning that a definite reference to that card has appeared on Wallet's official support site. More importantly, though, this confirms my own suspicions about the future of the Google Wallet app in light of the physical card: near-universal compatibility.

According to the support page, the new non-NFC version of the Wallet app will be compatible with any Android 2.3.3+ device, which is pretty much the vast majority of Android devices out there. This is big. This is the "circumvention" of the carriers we heard rumblings of earlier this year.

Nov

Xperia TX Review: Just Another Pretty Sony Phone That Isn't Very Good

Posted by David Ruddock in Phone Reviews, Xperia T

Last Updated: November 7th, 2012

If you're not much a classic car nut, and you were to walk up to a stylish little 1968 Opel GT, like this one, you'd probably think "Wow, is that... Italian? It must be fast (for its age)."

Of course, you would be wrong. The Opel GT is, in fact, based on the rather pedestrian Opel Kadett - seen here. The GT was not particularly quick, expensive, or really even that rare. In fact, Opel sold over 100,000 of them. And why? Because they were small and pretty and, even in the US, a lot cheaper than a Corvette.

Nov

AT&T Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 With LTE Launches November 9th

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Galaxy Tab 2 10.1, News

Starting Friday, you can get your hands on an LTE-enabled variant of the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 for AT&T, for $500 sans contractual obligation. And, if you buy a Samsung Galaxy smartphone (read: a Galaxy S III) with a new 2-year agreement on AT&T, they'll give you $100 off on a Tab 2 10.1. And that... might be of interest to you. This AT&T edition is also $50 cheaper than Sprint's. As for specifications:

10.1" 1280x800 display
1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon MSM8960
1GB RAM
8GB built-in storage, microSD card slot
3MP rear camera, VGA front camera
Android 4.0

And if you have an AT&T Mobile Share plan, you can add this tablet onto your existing data plan for $10, which is certainly one advantage of shared data buckets.

Nov

[The Android Police Week In Review] The Biggest Android Stories Of The Week (10/28/12-11/4/12)

Posted by David Ruddock in News, Week In Review

Welcome to the Android Police Week In Review - your source for the biggest Android stories of the week. Don't forget, you can catch a lot of these stories (and more) on our weekly podcast.

Features

Nexus 10: Cameron's initial impressions (tl;dr - pixels of eye-melting goodness)
Nexus 4: Ron's initial impressions (tl:dr - sex)
Does Google Maps infringe Apple's new maps patent? Only if you don't read it.
The physical Google Wallet card is coming, and it's black. So you already want it.
Cameron compares US GSM carriers for those of you salivating over a Nexus 4, but find the idea of leaving Verizon's cozy coverage a little bit scary.

Nov

[The Android Police Podcast] Episode 34: Digital Notification Boobies

Posted by David Ruddock in Podcast

Welcome to the Android Police Podcast, Episode 34. Don't forget - the Android Police Podcast's live broadcast is every Thursday at 5PM PST (www.androidpolice.com/podcast). The unedited video version of the podcast can be found here - and will likely include various verbal expletives, technical snafus, tangents, and probably a good 5-10 minutes of pre-podcast banter as we prepare. Watch at your own risk!

Reminder: we're having 4 weeks of tablet giveaways for live listeners. Tune in every week for the next 2 weeks for a chance to win. We've already given away 5 tablets, and have more to come!