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.

Follow @jstekl

Sep

Samsung Galaxy Tab To Launch On O2 For €99 With Contract, €799 Without?

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy Tab, News, O2, Samsung

It's clear from what other reviewers think as well as the specifications Samsung's released so far that the Galaxy Tab will be the Android tablet to get at the time of its launch (which, mind you, has still not been announced). Unfortunately, there are still a few things that could go wrong, not the least of which is pricing. Today, it would appear that mystery has been debunked by a recent tweet from German carrier O2 as well as the latest round of rumors.

Having a hard time reading that? Here's the English translation:

http://bit.ly/aKVatr Samsung Galaxy Tab - Yes we can!

Sep

Samsung Galaxy Tab Hands-On Preview Roundup; Consensus: It's The First Serious Android Tablet

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Editorials, Froyo 2.2, Galaxy Tab, News, Reviews, Tablet Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Ever since the first rumors about an Apple tablet started circulating around the blogosphere, we Android enthusiasts have been dying to see an Android tablet of equivalent caliber, and it seems like Samsung's new Galaxy Tab might just be the one.

Unfortunately, Android Police did not have a chance to visit, simply because no member of the team lives close enough to Germany to drive there in a reasonable amount of time, and not one of our readers offered to pay for the plane tickets (how disappointing!).

However, several other tech blogs were there, and for now, we'll have to settle for their humble opinions, at least until we get our paws on a review unit, which shouldn't be too long (besides, it's not unlikely that we'll get some hands-on time with the Tab at Samsung's New York City press event next week).

Sep

Motorola Milestone 2 Announced

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid 2, Froyo 2.2, Milestone, Motorola, News

It was only a matter of time, right? Just as with the original Droid, Motorola has been quick to create a GSM version of the Droid 2 for all of our non-American friends (hello, John Thompson) that appears to be identical to its Verizon-bound cousin.

That's right: the Motorola Milestone 2 has just been announced, along with Android 2.2 FroYo, an enhanced MotoBlur skin, a 5MP camera, 8GB of onboard storage as well as an 8GB microSD card, a 1GHz OMAP SOC processor, 512MB of RAM, and 720p HD video recording (one of the Droid 2's major omissions). Laptop users will also be happy to know that the Droid 2's Mobile Hotspot capability has not been removed and is still kicking around somewhere in the apps menu.

Aug

Archos Announces A Whole New Lineup Of Five Froyo Tablets

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in 101, 28, 32, 43, 70, ARCHOS, News

While the current state of Android tablets is measly to say the least, it looks like that may be changing soon enough, with the Galaxy Tab that we will (hopefully) see announced in 3 days at IFA 2010, the recently announced ViewSonic ViewPad 7 Froyo tablet, and now five new Archos tablets.

Admittedly, the Archos name didn't exactly excite us (this is, after all, the same company that made the resistive touchscreen-impaired, buttonless, Android 1.6-laden, Archos 5 Internet tablet) but after a closer look at what they've got to offer, we think the manufacturer might be onto something here.

With the tagline "How do you tablet?" Archos has just introduced:

Archos 28

Archos 28 is a $99.99, 2.8-inch, 320x240 resistive touch machine, which is set to launch by the end of September (also comes with 4GB of storage and an 600MHz Cortex A8 processor).

Aug

T-Mobile G2 To Take "With Google" To The Next Level Thanks To Google Voice Widget

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Froyo 2.2, G2 (Vision), HTC, News, T-Mobile

The crafty folks over at Droid Dog have just unearthed another secret buried deep in the G2's source code: a Google Voice widget.

They claim that it looks a lot like this:

and displays the amount of money in your Google Voice account, a compose message button, settings for Voice, a button for quick access to your inbox, and a button to turn Voice off.

Droid Dog is also reporting that the G2 will come with "just about every Google app available for Android," right out of the box. Then again, it's always better to have Google Translate pre-installed on your phone than AT&T Navigator (you know, that useless navigator that comes with all AT&T Android phones and essentially duplicates Google Navigator's functionality), right?

Aug

New Details On The Motorola R2-D2 Droid 2 And Droid Pro

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid 2, Droid Pro, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

A little over a week ago, we discovered the Droid Pro, Droid 2 World Edition, and a Motorola tablet (codenamed "Stingray") sitting around in Verizon's internal systems. Since then, there has been endless speculation about whether the Droid 2 World Edition and the Droid Pro are one device. Although there was never enough evidence to support that claim, there was plenty of evidence mounted against it (for example, why would there be two model numbers in Verizon's internal system that had the description of "Droid or D2"?)

Today, an Engadget tipster has debunked that rumor with another screenshot (above) that clearly identifies the A956 as the Droid World Edition (WE) and the A957 as the R2-D2 edition of the Droid 2.

Aug

Verizon Begins Rollout Of Flash To The Original Droid

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Droid (Sholes), Froyo 2.2, Motorola, Verizon Wireless

Sure, FroYo for the Droid Incredible was out and about this morning, and FroYo for the original Droid rolled out a while ago, and now we've got even more update news, this time for owners of the original Droid.

If you recall, (don't worry, I don't either) the first FroYo update for the original Droid brought many things, but downloading Adobe Flash player from the Market was not among them. Well, according to an email sent from Verizon to Engadget, a second OTA update will be rolling out soon that will enable the download.

Anyone seeing the update on their OG Droid yet?

Aug

[UPDATE: It's Coming Tomorrow!] HTC Droid Incredible FroYo ROM Floating Around, Still No Release Date

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid Incredible, EVO 4G (Supersonic), Froyo 2.2, HTC, News, Verizon Wireless

[Update @ 1:10 PM EST by Aaron] Looks like the update is rolling out starting tomorrow. Nice!

Despite the fact that FroYo for the Droid Incredible's big brother - Sprint's EVO 4G - was officially released a few weeks ago, the Incredible itself has yet to receive the update.

We still don't have an official release date (although there are countless rumors floating around), but we may now be one step closer: a new FroYo ROM for the Incredible has been released. It isn't clear whether this is a leaked version of the update that will (hopefully) be rolling out over the air soon, or if this is just something put together based on another device's update.

Aug

Motorola Droid 2 Review: A Bit Of Makeup But Not A Complete Makeover

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Droid (Sholes), Droid 2, Droid X (Shadow), Froyo 2.2, Phone Reviews, Reviews, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: October 22nd, 2011

General Overview

The original Droid was a revolutionary phone, not just because it saved Motorola from certain bankruptcy but also because it revealed the wonders of Android to the masses.

For the first time, an Android device was being marketed in a way that appealed to an average American. Not only that - the Droid was Google’s officially anointed Jesus phone, up until the Nexus One came along, meaning it was the first to get Android 2.0, the first to get Google Navigation, etc.

That sets a pretty high bar for the Droid 2, and if you read our review roundup, you already know that most other bloggers thought that, while it is certainly a worthy successor to the most popular Android phone ever, it doesn’t raise the bar or set a new standard for Droids going forward.

Aug

Dell Aero Now Available For $100 On Contract, Runs On Cupcakes

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Aero, AT&T, Cupcake 1.5, Dell, News

Last Updated: September 22nd, 2010

At this point, we'd consider it a joke to release a device with Android 1.5, but apparently, Dell thinks differently.

The 3.67-ounce Dell Aero goes on sale today (on Dell.com, at least; AT&T still lists it as "coming soon") for $99.99 on a new two-year contract with AT&T, and packs:

2GB of onboard storage
triband 3.6Mbps HSDPA and quadband EDGE
5 megapixel camera
3.5-inch 640x360 display

Oh, and the best part? It runs the latest and greatest in the world of Android operating systems: Android 1.5 Cupcake. Yes, seriously. Full press release after the break.

Source: Dell via Engadget

Dell Creates Freedom, Style and Performance to Explore Life's Biggest Moments on New 3.5-Inch Android Smartphone
Date: 8/24/2010
Round Rock, Texas
NEWS:
Dell's first U.S.