David Ruddock - 52/142 - 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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Oct

Motorola: DROID RAZR, Bionic, Atrix HD And More All Getting Jelly Bean

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

Motorola has just updated its device update timeline, and a whole bunch of phones have had their Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) updates confirmed. Let's just cut to the chase, here are the device getting Jelly Bean upgrades (US Only), with timing where applicable:

RAZR M (before 2013)
RAZR HD / MAXX (before 2013)
Atrix HD
Photon Q
Electrify 2
RAZR / MAXX
DROID 4
Bionic
XOOM (Wi-Fi and 3G/4G) (Q4 2012)

And that concludes the list. Here are the devices for which a Jelly Bean update decision is still pending:

XOOM Family Edition
Xyboard 10.1 / 8.2

If your device isn't any of the above, it's safe to assume Jelly Bean isn't in your future.

Oct

Internal Staples Document Suggests 8GB Nexus 7 Is Being Discontinued - 16GB Price Drop Imminent?

Posted by David Ruddock in Leaks, News, Nexus 7

We just posted some internal photos from Staples showing that the 32GB Nexus 7 is, indeed, making its way into retail stockrooms. And that's exciting. What we didn't show you, though, was one more photo from our intrepid office supply tipster, which contains some rather juicy information regarding the fate of the 8GB version of the Nexus 7. Take a look.

This is exactly what it appears to be: aisle end cap instructions for the upcoming holiday season. Thrilling. But look down to the "Notes" section at the bottom - there's some very intriguing stuff going on.

"Effective 10/30 SKU 949286 (Nexus 7" 8GB) will be clearance." If you're not aware, Staples has been one of the few brick and mortar locations selling the 8GB version of Google's tablet in the US.

Oct

The 32GB Nexus 7 Is Already At Staples Stores - Priced At $250? [Pictures]

Posted by David Ruddock in Leaks, News, Nexus 7

We already know the 32GB Nexus 7 exists. Some guy actually got one by mistake - in Japan. We've seen it at online stores in the US, online stores in Europe, and even Canada. It is bar-none Google's worst-kept secret ever.

What we have not seen, though, is a 32GB Nexus 7 actually physically in these United States. As of today, we know they're here - at Staples.

So yes, the Nexus 7 32GB is 100% imminent. We're fully expecting it to be announced at Google's October 29th event in New York, along with the Nexus 4, and Android 4.2.

Oct

Nexus 10 Tablet Appears In Our Server Logs, Photo EXIF Data - Is This The Official Name Of The "Manta"?

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News, Rumors

About two weeks ago, we published some clues from our own server logs indicating that there were two as-yet unidentified Nexus devices cruising the web. One, the Occam, is believed to be a phone. That device remains unidentified (it is not, as some speculated, the Nexus 4, which is called "Mako"). Our guess is still that it's a Motorola RAZR Nexus device, but who knows if or when we'll actually see it.

There was another, though: the Manta. Lacking the "mobile" flag in its UA string, we have to assume this is a tablet. And now, we're seeing something else quite interesting populating our traffic logs:

Linux; Android 4.2; Nexus 10 Build/JOP14
Linux; Android 4.2; Nexus 10 Build/JVP15B
Linux; Android 4.2; Nexus 10 Build/JOP12D

There's nothing specific in these UA strings that makes us think that this is the Manta - except for the fact that it's not often you see a probably-tablet running an unreleased build of Android.

Oct

Edifier Spinnaker Bluetooth Speakers Quick Review: Epic Sound, Crazy Style

Posted by David Ruddock in Other Reviews

In an age where everyone wants wireless everything, we're slowly seeing more traditional products integrate Bluetooth and Wi-Fi into their feature repertoire, particularly since the start of the smartphone revolution. Today, we're talking about speakers. Specifically, some pretty crazy looking ones called the Spinnakers, made by a company called Edifier.

I reviewed Edifier's Prisma 2.1 BT speaker system in August, and was thoroughly impressed with what $130 got you in terms of raw sound. The Spinnakers, though, are a tad pricier. And, by a tad, I mean a little less than three times as much, at $350 ($330 on Amazon).

Oct

Play Store Carrier Billing For Verizon Rolling Out "Over The Coming Weeks"

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, Carriers, News, Verizon Wireless

Google has just confirmed on the official Play Store Twitter account that carrier billing for Verizon customers will be making its way to handsets in the coming weeks.

Hey @verizon Customers! Pay for Google Play apps, music and more on your phone bill. We're rolling this out over the coming weeks. Enjoy!

— Google Play (@GooglePlay) October 18, 2012

Verizon joins Sprint, AT&T (on some devices only), and T-Mobile, all of which have carrier billing, rounding out the US's big four. You can see the complete list of compatible carriers here (Verizon does not yet appear there).

Carrier billing allows you to purchase not only apps and games, but books, movies, and music from the Play Store.

Oct

DROID Bionic And LG Lucid To Receive Ice Cream Sandwich OTA Updates Soon

Posted by David Ruddock in Bionic, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Two Ice Cream Sandwich OTA announcements from Verizon in one day? Pinch me. Both the Motorola DROID Bionic (6.7.246) and LG Lucid (ZV7) are set to receive Android 4.0 updates, with the latter's set to go out tomorrow. The timing for the Bionic's bump to ICS hasn't been provided, but considering the Verizon support site documents are up, it should be any day now.

Verizon even provided some pretty pictures to tell you what the respective updates do this time!

Oct

[Update 2: It's Official] Developers From India Can Now Sell Paid Apps In The Play Store

Posted by David Ruddock in Apps/Games, Development, News

Update 2: The Android Developers blog has just posted on this, nearly a month later, officially (and finally) announcing the addition of India to the list of supported merchant countries, meaning Indian developers can now sell their apps and games on the Play Store. See the original story for more information.

Update: India has since vanished from the list of support countries for merchants. We've reached out to Google to shed some light on the situation, but for now, it appears merchant support for India has been put on hold.

Following the addition of a number of countries way back in April, Google has updated the Google Play for Developers site to indicate that developers in India can now sell apps on the Play Store.

Oct

Unbelievably, AT&T Isn't Too Hot On The Sprint-Softbank Deal

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Carriers, News, Sprint

This morning, AT&T VP Brad Burns released a statement regarding the upcoming Softbank purchase of Sprint, and it carefully treads the line between "passive aggressive displeasure" and "seriously FCC, if this goes through, we're buying like a million carriers":

Softbank's acquisition of Sprint and the control it gains over Clearwire will give one of Japan's largest wireless companies control of significantly more U.S. wireless spectrum than any other company. We expect that fact and others will be fully explored in the regulatory review process. This is one more example of a very dynamic and competitive U.S. wireless marketplace, which is an important fact for U.S.

Oct

Swype Beta 1.3 Live, Packs A Whole Bunch Of New Features

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, News

Swype's beta client received a major update this morning, and the popular 3rd party keyboard is now at version 1.3, and this major release brings a host of new features like dictionary sync and backup, themes, "hotwords," even more languages, and a new version of the tablet layout.

Here's the list of all the new features, in detail:

Dictionary Backup & Sync: Swype now backs up and syncs a user’s personal dictionary across any of their mobile devices. So now when nicknames like “Ollie” are added to a mobile phone, that word will be automatically added to the personal dictionary on a tablet as well as all other registered devices.