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.

24
Apr
RIMG_1513_1600x1200
Last Updated: April 27th, 2012

There comes a time in every multinational electronics conglomerate's life when it tries to get into personal audio. Samsung isn't a particular stranger to the home theater side of sound, and some of its soundbar products actually review pretty decently. But a high-end headphone manufacturer, Samsung ain't. Search "samsung headphones" on Amazon, and you'll struggle to find anything costing more than $20.

The EHS71 is Samsung's first attempt to break into the premium earbud market. And, well, let's just cut to the chase: it's a wash. While marketing buzzwords like "lightweight aircraft aluminum," "high-performance balanced armature drivers," and "ultra micro design" may be able to sell the EHS71's on paper, the sad reality is that these premium buds are all show, no go in the audio department.

22
Apr
AndroidPolice-logo-with-bg-242x242_thumb

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.

Hardware Reviews

20
Apr
unnamed

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:

-Improved performance and various bug fixes

-More messaging features like creating group messages and adding friends to existing group conversations

-Shortcuts to share photos and messages right from your home screen

Screenshot_2012-04-20-15-32-28 Screenshot_2012-04-20-15-32-45 Screenshot_2012-04-20-15-33-23

I've already noticed smoother operation in the main feed when scrolling, and the new photo share button on the main feed page is pretty handy, too.

20
Apr
AndroidPolice logo with bg 242x242

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.

Carrier 411

Rumor Roundup

20
Apr
RIMG_1098_1600x1200

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.

So when a Swedish headphone company by the name of Nocs got in touch with me, I was a bit surprised - because I didn't know they existed. And there's a good reason for that (sort of): Nocs has specialized in making solely Apple-friendly headphone products. Until now.

The NS200 earbuds represent Nocs' first Android-compatible headphones (basically, just minor changes to the 3-button controls), and are a variant of the company's standard NS200 iOS earbuds.

19
Apr
gplay_logo_g_thumb3

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.

A quick 'whois' of the domain yields the following:

Registrant Name: DNS Admin
Registrant Organization: Google Inc.
Registrant Street1: 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Registrant Street2: 
Registrant City: Mountain View
Registrant State: California
Registrant Postal Code: 94043
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: 16506234000
Registrant Fax: 
Registrant Email: dns-admin@google.com

While the page in question still loads, it shows that the domain has been seized (according to Google Translate), and a change in registrant information usually indicates that either the squatter has given up the domain freely, or a decision has been reached and the domain seized by ICANN, beginning the process of transfer of ownership.

19
Apr
RIMG_1070_1600x1200
Last Updated: April 30th, 2012

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.

There comes an end to the life of every great consumer electronic. The portable CD player.

18
Apr
RIMG_1467_1600x1200
Last Updated: April 30th, 2012

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.

Building on that analogy, Android users, even die-hard fans, actually look at their phones more like tools.

15
Apr
AndroidPolice-logo-with-bg-242x242_thumb

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).

You'll notice that this week's "week" in review stretches back a bit further than a week, and that's basically because it's our first one.

13
Apr
AndroidPolice-logo-with-bg-242x242_thumb2

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.

  • Carrier 411