Jaroslav Stekl - 44/47 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

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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Sep

Samsung Galaxy Apollo Coming Soon To Telus, Looks To Be A Motorola Backflip Killer

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, Samsung

OK, so it isn't exactly number one on our list of hotly anticipated Android devices, but if you're on Telus and you're looking for a solid Android phone that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, it's not like you have a whole lot of options (unless, of course, you're dying for a phone that flips the wrong way).

Indeed, the Samsung Galaxy Apollo, a newly announced low-end Android phone for Telus, features yawn-inspiring specs like:

a 3.2" 480x320 LCD display
a 3 MP camera
an HSPA radio
150 MB of onboard storage
a 2 GB microSD card out of the box

As you can probably see, there's a good reason the Apollo isn't a member of the Galaxy S family of phones, although it does appear to share the same TouchWiz 3.0 skin (see pictures below).

Sep

Galaxy Tab On Its Way To Verizon, Sprint, And AT&T?

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in AT&T, Froyo 2.2, Galaxy Tab, News, Sprint, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: October 25th, 2010

The Galaxy Tab is really shaping up to one awesome tablet, and if this latest rumor from the Wall Street Journal turns out to be true, a lot of people will be able to experience it for themselves.

Apparently, "three people familiar with the matter" told WSJ that Samsung already has deals with Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T that involve a certain 7-inch tablet - deals similar to the ones made for the Galaxy S line of phones. Obviously, this means more people would be able to experience the wonders of Android blown up to a 1024x768 resolution on a 7" diagonal display (although, if you ask Google, there aren't many to be had yet).

Sep

Lego Just Became Cool Again - This 15" Android Logo Replica Is Ready To Take On Darth Vader Himself

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Editorials, News

To be honest, I had completely forgotten what legos were (probably just a symptom of old age), but those little toy bricks aren't going away anytime soon, especially if structures like the one our tipster just shared with us keep on coming.

Yessir, what we're looking at here is a 15x12-inch replica of the Android logo made entirely out of legos. What's more, the robot was planned entirely through a custom C program. Sound cool? Grayson Wendell, our tipster, the builder of the replica, and the writer of the custom C program, also added in an Android-powered iPhone, just for kicks.

Sep

Archos 32 PMP - I Mean Internet Tablet - Now Available For $150

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in 32, ARCHOS, Froyo 2.2, News

Sure, it's no Galaxy Tab, but the Archos 32, which just began shipping today, does offer some bang for your buck.

With specs like:

a 3.2 inch 400x240 resistive touchscreen
an 800MHz ARM Cortex A8 processor
802.11 b/g/n WiFi
BlueTooth 2.1 + EDR
a G-sensor

it's not exactly at the top of the Android tablet heap (or even the Archos tablet heap), but for $149.99, what more could you ask? Other than, of course, a name change (seriously, how does a 3.2-inch device qualify as a "tablet" rather than a "portable media player?") and an operating system that isn't FroYo.

Sep

FroYo For Tablets? Google Doth Protest

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Froyo 2.2, News

One of the many great things about Android is how open it is: just about anyone can put it on just about anything (except for the Android Market and Google's suite of proprietary apps (ie, Gmail, Google Talk, etc), which are not officially part of Android and are therefore not open). However, that doesn't always mean the end user is going to receive a great experience; quite the contrary, if you ask Google's Hugo Barra.

In a recent interview with Tech Radar, the Director of Products for Mobile at Google stated that "FroYo is not optimized for tablets" and that the Market is "not going to be available on devices that don't allow applications to run correctly," aka tablets.

Sep

HTC Desire Goes White, Wildfire Goes Silver, We Go GaGa

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), HTC, News

If you read our review of the HTC Desire, you'll already know that the physical design of the phone is hardly the first thing that needs to be changed.

Regardless, we can't complain about the changes HTC is rumored to be making here:

Yep, what we're looking at is a white version of the Desire, and even though I'm not exactly known to go crazy over white gadgets (especially when they're phones), I've got to admit this one's pretty hot.

As you can see, HTC is also making a silver (and possibly aluminum!) version of the Wildfire. While not as exciting as the white Desire, it's still something to look forward to...if, that is, you live in the UK, for Android Community informs us that the two devices will be sold exclusively at The Carphone Warehouse, a UK-only retailer.

Sep

That Was Quick - Samsung Fascinate Rooted On Launch Day

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Eclair 2.1, Fascinate, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

It's never long before a phone is rooted, especially not if a member of xda-developers can help it.

Well, it looks like Samsung and Verizon's latest baby, the Fascinate, is no exception, as Dirrk, Junior Member of (you guessed it!) xda-developers has just hacked the device into running the Superuser app...aka rooting it. Don't take my word for it though, check out the guide below:

adb push su /sdcard/su
adb push rage.bin /data/local/tmp/rage.bin
adb push busybox /sdcard/busybox

adb shell
cd /data/local/tmp
chmod 0755 rage.bin
./rage.bin

wait....
when it brings you back to your original shell or windows cmd promt

adb shell

mount -t rfs -o remount,rw /dev/block/stl9 /system

cd /system/xbin
cat /sdcard/su > .

Sep

Google Teaches Us To "Walk This Way" With Google Maps 4.5

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Google, News

Google's on a roll today with app updates; first it was the new Google Voice featuring not one, but two widgets, and now they're rolling out a new version of Google Maps which promises to teach us to "walk this way."

The update includes a feature called "Walking Navigation," which is essentially turn-by-turn navigation, only for pedestrians and not drivers. It is now able to:

provide up-to-the minute walking directions to from where you stand now to your destination, complete with blue and white arrows to indicate where you stand and where you should go
provide more direct routes
offer voice guidance (which can be turned off)
a map that rotates as you rotate
turn on satellite imagery by default
vibrate your phone when you need to make a turn

Revolutionary it may not be, but it's certainly an improvement over the feature it replaces, "Walking Directions."

Also new is the Google Maps search bar, which allows you to:

start searching for a place
open Places
use the Layers menu
find yourself on the map with My Location
filter search results by distance or ratings
view prices categorized by dollar signs
see cross streets for places

In one final change, Google's gone and revamped Street View.

Sep

Google Voice Widgets Break Out Of G2's Deathgrip, Now Available In The Market

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

To nobody's surprise, the G2, announced this morning, features a Google Voice widget.

What may be surprising is that there are not one, but two of these widgets: a widget that shows the messages you have in your inbox:

as well as the same widget for managing your Voice settings that was leaked a few weeks ago:

What may be an even bigger surprise is that Google has now made both of these widgets available to non-G2 devices through the Android Market. The widgets are available today via an update to the existing Google Voice app and allow users to:

See messages in their inbox (Inbox Widget)
Open the full Google Voice app by clicking the Google Voice icon (both widgets)
Compose and send text messages (Settings Widget)
Change dialing preferences (Settings)
Enter "Do Not Disturb" mode to send calls straight to Voicemail (Settings)
See credit balance (Settings)

Google Voice has always been a great service (and certainly one that I and other members of the Android Police team use on a daily basis), and it looks like it just got quite a bit better for owners of just about any Android device.

Sep

Camera ZOOM FX Review + Giveaway

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in App Reviews, Applications, Contests / Giveaways, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

When it comes to photo editing on the fly, there are usually two kinds of apps: those intended for mindless fun, and those intended for actual work. Without a doubt, Camera ZOOM FX falls into the latter category, along with its mediocre UI, strange (though not necessarily poor) selection of effects, and (relatively) low price tag. So is it worth a look? A purchase? Read on for the full Android Police review.

The Review

Design

Like I said in the introduction, Camera ZOOM FX's design is not exactly my definition of sexy. The problems begin when you first open the app and discover just how ugly the UI is.