Jaroslav Stekl - 9/47 - 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.

Follow @jstekl

Sep

Deal Alert: Motorola DROID X2 Now Just $0.01 With An Additional $50 Gift Card At Amazon Wireless

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Deals, Droid X2, Motorola, Verizon Wireless

Let's not beat around the bush here: the DROID X2 is hardly the star of Motorola and Verizon's DROID production, what with its PenTile display and CDMA-only radio. But then again, it's not a complete train wreck; and besides, who doesn't love a free phone? Oops, did I say free? I meant you actually get $50 back in the form of a gift card due to a promotion Amazon is currently running. Not bad, huh?

As you can see, that's precisely (or at least almost precisely) what Amazon's mobile division, Amazon Wireless, is doing: it's now selling the DROID X2 for just one cent with a new two-year VZW contract.

Sep

Rumor: Motorola DROID HD/Spyder To Be Released As The DROID RAZR, Infused With A qHD Super AMOLED Display

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

Last Updated: October 18th, 2011

Remember that sleek 4.5-inch Motorola looker we encountered last month? It's back, but no longer will it be known as the DROID HD or the DROID Spyder; according to the latest rumor (courtesy of This is my Next), the device is none other than the DROID RAZR. Yes, that's the name of the phone that in 2004 saved Motorola from bankruptcy (before it plunged into the profitless dregs of mobile society a second time, that is).

The name change is accompanied by a full list of specs, but first let's take a look at the handset itself and see what the hype is all about:

And now for the spec sheet - in a word, it's drool-worthy:

4.3-inch 960x540 Super AMOLED display (no PenTile!!!

Sep

Motorola XOOM 2 Pictures Leak Out: Angled Corners, "HD" Camera, And... The Same Weight As The Original XOOM?

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless, XYBOARD / XOOM 2

The Motorola XOOM was a truly unique device: it marked the beginning of the Android tablet era, stole a portion (admittedly a very small one) of the iPad 2's pre-announcement hype, and... weighed about as much as a tank driven by Chris Christie.

Well now its successor, the XOOM 2, has begun to hit the rumor mill - just a few minutes ago, Droid Life leaked two pictures of the slate:

We don't have a ton of information on the device as of yet, but DL's "sources" say that its weight is similar to that of the XOOM (!), and it has "big physical flush" buttons on its back, HDMI and microUSB ports on its bottom, and a SIM card slot.

Sep

MadFinger Games Puts Out Mind-Blowing Trailer For The Soon-To-Be-Released Shadowgun

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Games, News, Videos

Unity3D has paved the road for some seriously stunning mobile games, and as smartphones and tablets continue to become more powerful, 3D shooters and other graphics-intensive apps will finally begin to reach their full potential.

A perfect example of this is MadFinger's latest project: Shadowgun, which we last saw in May. The OTS (over-the-shoulder) shooter puts you in the shoes of John Slade, an assassin hired to surreptitiously sneak into Dr. Edgar Simon's heavily guarded mansion.

Of course, the game's graphics are the real center of the hubbub - they're just that ~~good~~ breathtaking:

The game will be launching in just 5 days (9/28)...

Sep

[Editorial] Let Android Be Android: One Year Later

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Editorials

Introduction

It's now been exactly a year (minus one day) since I published my very first editorial for Android Police, Let Android Be Android. A lot has changed since - dual-core CPUs are now table stakes for a high-end smartphone; Android has evolved from an exclusively mobile OS to a software powerhouse for phones and tablets alike; and we've been given several seminars on stretching the truth about the speed of a wireless network (yep, that would be the "4G" drama).

Sadly, one thing has remained almost entirely stagnant: the diminutive amount of vanilla Android devices on the market. In fact, it would be more than accurate to say that the skin situation has been exacerbated since my article on it last year.

Sep

Video: DROID BIONIC Boots Into CyanogenMod 7 For The First Time

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Bionic, Development, Motorola, Verizon Wireless

The Android dev community has a well-deserved reputation for releasing new versions of ROMs at breakneck speeds, and they're not slowing down with the newest kid on the block, the Motorola DROID BIONIC. In fact, @cvpcs has already ported CyanogenMod 7 to the device, and though he isn't ready to release it just yet, he has put out a video to whet our appetites:

Of course, since this is the very first time the BIONIC has successfully booted into CM7, there are plenty of bugs, including:

No radio connectivity
No charging
Issues with battery reporting
No audio
No camera

Regardless, this is certainly a viable first chapter in the BIONIC's ROM development, and we look forward to the continuation of the saga.

Sep

Sprint To Shut Down Premier Program, Continue Cost-Cutting Measures

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in News, Sprint

The newest version of Sprint's weekly "playbook" has been sent around to employees, and as usual, we have a copy. Sadly, this week's edition doesn't exactly inspire confidence for the future of the nation's third-largest carrier - in fact, one of Sprint's primary benefits, the Premier program, will be disappearing down the drain shortly. It's not all bad news, though, so let's dig in and see what's up and coming in the world of Sprint.

The Death of Sprint Premier

In retrospect, we should have seen this one coming - Sprint has, after all, been gradually decreasing the benefits of its Premier program over the last year or so.

Sep

DROID Bionic Augmented Reality Scavenger Hunt Now In Session, Prizes Include Quadricopter, HDTV, Laptop, And Motorola XOOM

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Bionic, Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

The @DroidLanding Twitter account has awoken once more, this time with news of an ongoing DROID Bionic scavenger hunt:

In previous VZW Twitter contests, the @DroidLanding account would tweet out the coordinates of a hidden smartphone and participants would hurriedly scramble to the location lest someone claim the prize before them. With this latest scavenger hunt, however, VZW has upped the nerd factor and brought an augmented reality-based Android game into the mix:

The app lets users 'build' four virtual Bionics before sending them off to a nearby location. Then the app becomes a compass of sorts, guiding users to said location and, once they are within 100 yards of one of the four Bionics, instructing them to virtually 'grab' it and thus enter the sweepstakes.

Sep

Latest EVO 3D PRL Forces Users To Use 2G - But You Can Fix It

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, EVO 3D (Shooter), HTC, Sprint

HTC has an above-average track record with software updates, but they appear to have misstepped with the most recent PRL version for the EVO 3D. For some unfathomable reason, said PRL (version number 50580) seems to be blocking Sprint's 3G network for a lot of users; as a result, they are left with no choice but to rely on the considerably slower 1xRTT technology (2G) for data.

Fortunately, there's still hope for those who unknowingly applied PRL 50580 - simply revert to the previous PRL (21081) using the instructions at Good and EVO. Note, however, that your device will need to be rooted, and an official fix probably isn't too far down the road.

Sep

US Release Of Galaxy Tab 7.7 And Galaxy Note Not In The Pipelines, Says Samsung Rep

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy Note (GT-N7000), Galaxy Tab 7.7, News, Samsung

If the insanely high-res screens of the Galaxy Note and Galaxy Tab 7.7 have you drooling, you're certainly not alone. But if you live in the US, it's all too likely that you will never have the opportunity to see either of the devices in person.

At IFA 2011, the very same conference where the 7.7 and the Note were made official, a Samsung representative told GottaBeMobile that there are currently no plans to sell the gadgets in the US. For a moment or two there was a glimmer of hope - it wasn't clear whether the rep was referring to the seven-inch mini-tablet or the five-inch jumbo-phone - but after a brief bout of texting, it became obvious: neither of the devices are scheduled to cross the pond.