Jaroslav Stekl - 6/47 - 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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Mar

[New App] Splashtop THD Now Available, Bringing 3D PC Gaming Capabilities To Tegra 3 Devices

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

Ever since its unveiling at CES 2012, Splashtop THD has been eagerly awaited by owners of (the admittedly few) Tegra 3 devices. And fortunately, they have not been waiting in vain: Splashtop THD has just been released – and as promised, the ability to stream smooth, high-res video and audio from PCs and Macs alike is included.

Unlike its predecessor, Splashtop Remote HD, THD is capable of streaming content at 60 frames per second with a sub-30 millisecond latency, meaning you’ll be able to play all the 3D PC games you want (Skyrim, anyone?). Moreover, you’ll have full gaming control overlays at the bottom of the screen – as a result, gaming should be a dream.

Feb

Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 Release Date Officially Pegged By Verizon - Coming March 1st

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in 4G, Galaxy Tab 7.7, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

The Ice Cream Sandwich-packing Galaxy Tab 2 it may not be, but the Galaxy Tab 7.7 that Verizon unveiled at CES last month still isn’t to be dismissed out of the gate – the now-official tablet will be arriving in stores on March 1st, complete with:

7.7 inch, 1280×800 Super AMOLED Plus display
1.4 GHz Dual-Core processor
Android 3.2 with Touchwiz
16 GB storage
3 MP rear camera with LED flash
2 MP front-facing camera
7.9 mm thickness
SD card slot
LTE

Sure, Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) is a tad outdated, but still, it would be hard to resist the largest Super AMOLED Plus display to date, right?

Feb

Google To Make “Big Announcements” About GTV On February 13th

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google TV, News

Though some would have you believe Google TV has long been a dead horse, it seems Mountain View hasn’t given up hope just yet: just about a month after a handful of CES announcements, the company put up a Facebook message promising the following:

There’s obviously no way to discern for sure what these “big announcements” might be, but as The Verge says, it’s possible they could entail the yearly GTV update or (more excitingly) a Google-branded device (Nexus TV, anyone?). Either way, we’ll be keeping you updated on the news – good or bad – as it comes in, so keep it locked right here on AP!

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 MIT deems you “free to use the term ‘App Inventor’ and the puzzle-piece Android logo” in your work.

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, MGM Grand, and many more hotels/casinos, along with some Best Buys in the Las Vegas area.

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, they’ll both feature gesture and voice control, in addition to the usual Google apps and the following keyboard:

^{Hey, it’s an improvement over Sony’s last attempt at a Google TV keyboard…}

Update: According to The Verge, the keyboard is backlit and features – get this – a three-axis motion sensor that should be perfect for gaming.

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” (it’s not quite clear whether this indicates something outside of ICS’ regular contents, or just Google’s traditional web browser)
“Traditional TV programs” (again, it’s not quite clear what’s meant by this)
Access to the Android Market (of course)
Access to the Lenovo Store
Voice control
Cloud support (yep, that’d be the “personal cloud”)

Powered by a dual-core Snapdragon 8060 CPU, the K91 Smart TV will ship with a 5MP (!) webcam for video chat and a full HD IPS display at 240hz with SRS TruSurround.

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 single-core)
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
3G (no 4G)
Support for two SIM cards

Described by ViewSonic product manager Mike Holstein as a phone for the “value seeker,” the ViewPhone 3’s perhaps single defining feature is its price tag: $250 – off-contract.

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://play.google.com/store/apps/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 Development, Exclusives, HTC, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

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 a universal HTC root tool?