Jaroslav Stekl

Jaroslav Stekl is a tech enthusiast whose favorite gadgets almost always happen to be the latest Android devices. When he's not writing for Android Police, he's probably hiking, camping, or canoeing. He is also an aspiring coffee aficionado and an avid moviegoer.

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Jan

App Inventor Goes Open Source At Its New MIT Home

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Apps/Games, Google, News

Looks like we missed it, but back in December of 2011, Google officially stopped developing App Inventor (it was a result of the company’s shutdown of Google Labs), allowing MIT to take the reins of a very similar project. Today, that project went open source, and though there’s very little in the way of documentation or guides, you can download the code now and begin modifying the Inventor.

Additionally, MIT hasn’t yet opened its servers, so you’ll have to find your own place to upload your modified version(s) of the file – but hey, if nothing else, at least ...

Jan

[Updated: LV Airport, Casinos, Best Buys Too] [CES 2012] Google Maps Now Features Indoor Mapping For CES

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Google, News

Shortly after Thanksgiving last year, Google updated its Maps application, bumping its version number up to 6.0 and adding, most notably, indoor mapping. At the time it was presumed that the feature would be most useful for navigating places like major malls, airports, and similar metropolitan areas; however, Google just added a new way to use indoor mapping: finding your way around the most important tech show of the year – CES!

Update: Google's official announcement just went live - in addition to LVCC, they've also added maps of the McCarran airport, Caesars Palace, Bellagio, The Venetian, The Palazzo, ...

Jan

[CES 2012] Sony Introduces Google TV Set-Top Box, Blu-Ray Player

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google TV, News, Sony

Seems Sony’s making good on its promise to keep churning out Google TV devices – in fact, the company just introduced not one, but two such gadgets.

As of now, we don’t have tech specs for either of the duo, but what we do know is what you see above: both the NSZ-GP9 Blu-ray player (on the left) and the NSZ-GS7 set-top box (on the right) look splendid, and both have seriously overcomplicated names. Additionally, from the looks of it, they’ll support 3D TVs, so if you’re ~~rich~~ lucky enough to have one, I suppose that’s good news. Finally, ...

Jan

[Update: First Look Video, We're Kind Of In Love] CES 2012: Lenovo Announces K91, The World’s First Ice Cream Sandwich-Powered TV

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, K91 TV, Lenovo, News, Videos

Last Updated: January 11th, 2012

Lenovo wasn’t on the list of Google TV partners, but for good reason: the company has just announced that, in addition to its new tablet and smartphone, it will soon be launching a “Smart TV” powered by none other than Ice Cream Sandwich.

Indeed, Lenovo hasn’t abandoned all hope of an Android-based TV OS; in fact, the situation is in reality quite the opposite – with the K91, it’ll be embracing everyone’s favorite robot completely. Its (presumably heavily) modified version of the OS will feature:

Video on Demand that tailors itself to your viewing history
“Internet applications”

...

Jan

[CES 2012] ViewSonic To Introduce ViewPhone 3, Bring A (Dull) Knife To A Gun Fight

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, ViewPhone 3, Viewsonic

In spite of all the exciting pre-CES announcements we’ve been seeing over the last few days, one company has been preparing a somewhat less-than-enticing device – specifically, ViewSonic with a new low-end handset that’s been dubbed simply the ViewPhone 3.

While this won’t be Viewsonic’s first foray into the low-end Android market, it will be the company’s first US smartphone – and let’s just say it won’t exactly be sparking a revolution. Have a look at the specs that have been made official thus far:

3.5-inch display (unknown resolution, but don’t expect miracles)
5MP camera
800 MHz Qualcomm processor (presumably

...

Jan

IM+ Pro Now On Sale For Just $0.99 – Formerly $9.99

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Apps/Games, News

Social butterflies have been enjoying SHAPE Services’ maxed-out instant messaging application IM+ Pro since last year, but the privilege certainly came with a price – it cost $9.99. Recently, however, SHAPE dropped the price to just $0.99, considerably increasing the app’s value.

As a reminder, here’s what IM+ Pro is capable of:

As of yet, we have no idea as to how long this sale will last, so if you’re interested, you might as well pick it up now. All the information you’ll need is provided below.

IM+ Pro

QR code for https://market.android.com/details?id=de.shapeservices.implusfull

...

Dec

[Exclusive] TacoRoot By Justin Case And Reid Holland: A New Temporary Root Exploit For All HTC Devices

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Mods, News

Our own Justin Case has been collaborating with Reid Holland (erishasnobattery) on TacoRoot – a tool that should root just about any HTC smartphone – for some time now, and with the recent additions to HTC’s official unlocking tool, they’ve decided to release it.

At the moment, it’s quite gnarly – it’s only a temporary root for now, and there are various issues with it (see below). That said, it’s incredibly useful for downgrading phones like the myTouch 4G, which can’t be unlocked or rooted with the most recent version of their software. Besides, who could say no to ...

Dec

[Updated x3] HTCDev.com Now Unlocking HTC Rezound, Vivid, Jetstream, Rhyme, And All HTC Devices Released After Sept 2011

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in HTC, Jetstream, Mods, News, Rezound, Rhyme, Vivid

Last Updated: December 29th, 2011

HTCDev.com has been unlocking the bootloaders of select HTC smartphones for some time now, but up until today, the Rezound was not among their ranks.

Update #1: HTC Vivid is unlockable as well - thanks again for the tip, jcase.

Update #2: HTC just updated the bootloader unlock site and announced that "All HTC Android devices launched after September 2011 are unlockable. The website will be updated accordingly to reflect this in the coming weeks. We continue to work on models launched prior to September 2011, please check back often for the status of older devices.

...

Dec

ZAGGsparq 2.0 6000mAh Portable Battery Review: Powerful On Paper, Underwhelming In Practice

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Other Reviews, Reviews

The stakes for the ZAGGsparq 2.0 aren't low -- after all, the 6000mAh charger won not one, but two innovation awards at CES 2010, and its claim to charge a smartphone up to four times is downright stunning. But underneath the shiny black exterior and all the fancy marketing prose, is it really all that? Well, not quite...

At A Glance

The ZAGGsparq 2.0 features:

6000mAh of juice
Dual charging ports -- one labeled "general," and the other "optimized"
Compatibility with both phones and tablets

The Good

6000mAh – It’s not the most powerful or juice-filled portable battery we’ve

...

Dec

104

[Exclusive] How To Easily Root The Amazon Kindle, Regardless Of Its Software Version

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Amazon, Kindle Fire, Mods, News

Last Updated: December 31st, 2011

Update: Justin has repackaged the Kindle Fire root app apk, removing encryption and open sourcing the file.

Update: BurritoRoot may not work on version 6.0 firmware. If you're having trouble, update your firmware and try again.

On the historic date of December 20th, 2011, Amazon pushed out software version 6.2.1 to its Kindle Fire. The update was fairly minor -- its main additions had to do with improved scrolling and WiFi passwords -- but it brought about one devastating change: it broke all previous methods of root.

Seeing the issue, our own Justin Case got right to ...