Eric Ravenscraft
Eric is a snarky technophile with a taste for the unusual. When he's not obsessing about Android, you can usually find him obsessing about movies, psychology, or the perfect energy drink. Eric weaves his own special blend of snark, satire, and comedy into all his articles.

17
Jul
vergetiny

The Verge Launches Its Very Own Android App, For The Rest Of Your Tech News Needs

Posted by in Applications, News

Since you're reading Android Police, we know you've already got all your Android news covered. But hey, we know there are other gadgets out there! For that, the Verge is a pretty great source of information. For the (very few) uninitiated, the Verge is a gadget blog founded by former Editor-in-Chief of Engadget Joshua Topolsky. For broad gadget news of the industry at large, there are few publications that are better.

verge1 verge2 verge3

The app looks pretty great on a phone, though the tablet layout is non-existent. The app even locks to portrait mode, which isn't a big deal for all you new and future Nexus 7 owners, but for virtually every other Android tablet in existence, it's a little annoying.

17
Jul
autoraptiny

AutoRap From Smule Will Turn Things You Say Into A Rap Song - Yes, Even Shakespeare

Posted by in Applications, News

Smule is a developer best known for creating some really amazing novelty music apps. The company's latest is AutoRap which does exactly what it says on the tin: it takes your speech and automagically turns it into a rap. To test this feature, I fed it the only logical thing to run through an auto-rapping app: Shakespeare. Specifically, Puck's closing monologue from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

[Audio clip: view full post to listen]

If your head's not bopping and your butt's not shaking, you have no appreciation for music or literature. On a more serious note, the app is pretty impressive and beautifully designed.

17
Jul
kyocera hydro

Kyocera Hydro Lands On Boost Mobile, "Where You At?" Can Now Be Answered With "Under The Sea"

Posted by in Boost Mobile, Kyocera, News

Okay, so Kyocera's not really known for producing the best smartphones. And Boost Mobile is perhaps best known for mildly entertaining ads and cheap plans, compared to the big dogs. If you're not interested in having the latest and greatest, if your primary concern for network carrier is price, and if you spend a lot of time making phone calls under water, then I've got some great news for you: the Kyocera Hail Hydro is coming to Boost Mobile for $129 (no contract) on August 3rd.

kyocera hydro

The phone, which we covered back at CTIA, boasts some pretty meager specs. A single-core Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM and a 3.5" 480x320 IPS display.

17
Jul
cyanogenmodlogo

CyanogenMod 10 Preview Builds Available For Galaxy S III On AT&T, T-Mobile, And Sprint

Posted by in Galaxy S III, News

CyanogenMod 10 is still cooking, and heck, CM9 isn't even fully baked for all devices yet. That hasn't stopped Steve Kondik, aka the guy who puts the Cyanogen in CyanogenMod, from posting preview builds of CM10 over on XDA for the AT&T and T-Mobile Galaxy S III variants. Plus, a third preview build being posted for the Sprint version by another developer. Keep in mind, of course, that "preview build" translates into "absolutely nothing is guaranteed to work." It is exciting, nonetheless.

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The threads go out of their way to point out that CM10 isn't even close to being ready to ship and that just about everything that could go wrong probably will.

16
Jul
evo3d

Sprint Announces HTC EVO 3D And EVO Design Will Be Updated To Ice Cream Sandwich By Early August

Posted by in EVO 3D (Shooter), EVO Design 4G, News

If you bought a pre-LTE Evo phone in the last year and you've been feeling left out in the cold, worry not. Sprint and HTC are in the process of bringing Ice Cream Sandwich to your device. If your device happens to be an Evo 3D or Evo Design, that is. The older flagship Evo and this year's midrange phone are slated to reach Android 4.0 sometime in August.

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Yes, we know that once again, it's not Jelly Bean. Of course, Ice Cream Sandwich is a huge departure from Gingerbread and apparently it's not unusual for updates to take a while.

16
Jul
galaxy s blaze 4g

T-Mobile Galaxy S Blaze 4G Will Be Updated To ICS Some Time In The Future, No, It's Not Today's Update

Posted by in Galaxy S Blaze 4G, News, T-Mobile

We can easily forget some of the mid-range to lower-end devices in the flurry of news we have to keep up with. Thankfully, though, T-Mobile and Samsung haven't. At least not in the Blaze 4G's case. This device is currently in the process of receiving an update to Android 2.3.6. It was already running Gingerbread, so this isn't a huge update. What is big, however, is T-Mobile has announced that some time in the future, the device will see Ice Cream Sandwich.

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Yes. It's annoying to hear that the companies are only now announcing plans for last year's OS, just after Jelly Bean was announced, but hey, this is a mid-range phone we're talking about, after all.

16
Jul
2012-07-16_00h09_33

Google's New Voice Assistant Pitted Against Siri: If You'd Like, I Can Search The Web For Pictures Of A Stallion

Posted by in Google, News

The uninformed consumer (read: not you, dear readers) may be forgiven for not realizing Google's voice search/voice assistant/Google Now thing is attempting to compete head-on with Siri, what with lacking a name and not being nearly as anthropomorphized. However, Google's voice powers are, indeed, aimed squarely at making the act of finding and using information far easier than Apple's automaton. In this video, the two go voice-to-voice and...okay, let's not beat around the bush. Siri gets thoroughly trashed.

Now, let's be perfectly clear. When dealing with voice searches and natural language assistants, your mileage will always vary. However, in this head-to-head comparison, it is no contest.

15
Jul
galaxysiiiblue

Samsung's Developer Version Of The Galaxy S III Shows Up On Its Site In Pebble Blue, 32GB Flavor, "Coming Soon"

Posted by in Galaxy S III, News, Verizon Wireless

Verizon has taken some flack lately for being the only US carrier to lock the bootloader. Workarounds have been implemented, but Samsung's taken it a step further by announcing a developer version of the device. Today they...well, they haven't quite made good on that promise, but they have created a landing page for the device on their site that announces the 32GB Pebble Blue version will be "coming soon".

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It doesn't look like pre-orders are available yet, although we know the device will retail for $599 when it finally launches. Previously, Verizon had tried to claim that Samsung was responsible for the locked bootloader, but since virtually every other version of the device did not have a locked bootloader, and now Samsung is going out of its way to get an unlocked version in the hands of its customers, it's a little tough to stomach that idea.

15
Jul
xbmc logo

Pre-Built XBMC Apk Is Available, Here's What It Looks Like Running On A Nexus Q

Posted by in Applications, News

Earlier this week, we mentioned that the amazing folks behind the XBMC project are bringing the app to Android. Well, it's still very early, but would you like to see what it's gonna be like? Of course you do. If you've got a Nexus Q or an Android-compatible set top box, you can download the apk from our mirrors below. For the rest of you, here's what it looks like running on a lovingly hacked Nexus Q, courtesy of Cyanogenmod developer Jason Parker:

xbmcnexusq

The interface is still very much centered around arrow keys/a d-pad. Touch input does work, but text is very small on a phone and not much better on a tablet.

14
Jul
fujifilm

Fujifilm Sues Motorola Mobility Over Android Patents, Takes A Comfy Seat On The Bandwagon

Posted by in Motorola, News

When you try to think of companies that have a motivation to sue over smartphone patents involving Android, Fujifilm may very well be close to the bottom of the list, but you'd be wrong. The company has recently filed a lawsuit against Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility for infringing four of its patents.

The brouhaha began back in April 2011 (for those counting, that's a solid four months before Google even announced its acquisition of the company). Fujifilm claims that several Motorola phones infringe on one or all of the following patents which include, in dramatically oversimplified terms for the layman:

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