John Thompson - 14/22 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

John Thompson

John's been addicted to technology ever since he tinkered with his first custom built PC when he was 10 years old. He's also the proud owner of seven Amazon Kindles, but only because he destroyed the first six.

Follow @british_geek

Aug

[Deal Alert] Walmart Offering The 7" Acer Iconia A100 For $328 With A $50 Gift Card

Posted by John Thompson in Deals, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Iconia A100, News

If you've been holding out on that Acer Iconia A100 purchase for the price to lower a little more, now might be your chance to pick up a pretty sweet deal from Walmart. Effective from Sunday, August 14th through to Saturday, August 20th, you can grab the tablet for just $328 and get a $50 gift card for free while you're at it. For the mathematically lazy, that effectively makes the price just $278.

The offer is available both online and in-store, so if you've been tempted by the Iconia A100 before, you have the rest of this week to do something about it!

Aug

150 Million Android Devices Now Activated Worldwide, With 550,000 More Being Added Daily

Posted by John Thompson in Android OS, News

Hot on the heels of its acquisition of Motorola for $12.5 billion this morning, Google has announced on its blog that Android is now running on 150 million devices worldwide.

That figure is up a whopping 20 million on last month's 130 million, with the post also mentioning that an additional 550,000 units are being activated every day across 123 countries (though we already knew that).

With these numbers, there's no doubt that the growth of Android is as strong as it ever has been, and it goes without saying that the death of our favorite platform has been greatly exaggerated.

Aug

[App For Kids] The Going To Bed Book Is An Illustratively Rich Children's Book For Android, From The Makers Of The Tale Of Peter Rabbit

Posted by John Thompson in Applications

There are lots of applications available on the Android Market which are aimed at adults, falling into various categories from 'Productivity' to 'Health & Fitness', but you don't often see truly good applications aimed at children. There isn't even a category for children's apps in the Market!

That doesn't mean that great children's applications aren't out there, however, and The Going To Bed Book, from the same developer that released The Tale of Peter Rabbit, looks like it could be one of those great titles.

All of the material inside the app is taken from Sandra Boynton's book of the same name, and given a digital twist.

Aug

[Updated: Walkthrough Video] Official Android 3.1 Beta For Logitech Revue Leaked; Flash At Your Own Risk!

Posted by John Thompson in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Revue

Heads-up, Revue owners! We've got a nice little surprise for you all this morning. A member of the GTVHacker forums has posted about a leaked beta of Android 3.1 for the Google TV device, and the good news is that you can download it right now!

The update ~~looks like~~ is an official one (signed and hosted by Google/Logitech), as you don't need to be rooted to flash this on to your device; you can apply it like you would any other operating system update with no root necessary. However, as this is a beta version it will have some bugs lurking around in it and more importantly you cannot roll back to a previous version once you have updated the software, so do this at your own risk!

Aug

[App Review] PC Monitor Allows You To Keep An Eye On Everything (And I Mean Everything) That's Happening On Your Windows Or Linux Computer

Posted by John Thompson in App Reviews, Applications

If you've ever wanted to keep an eye on your computer from your smartphone whilst you're out and about, then you'll know how limited your options are. You could use a remote monitoring tool such as LogMeIn Ignition to physically control the machine, but it doesn't offer a quick overview of resources on your phone and the application costs a cent shy of $30, which isn't exactly a price that encourages impulse buying.

If LogMeIn doesn't fit the bill, and you're looking for an application that can show you all the information that you need to know on the screen of your smartphone, without having to take control of the actual machine and navigate Windows on a 3.5-inch screen, then you may want to take a closer look at PC Monitor.

Jul

Acer Iconia Tab A100 Arriving 'Early August' For $300. Finally.

Posted by John Thompson in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Iconia A100, News

Well it's about bloody time! The last we heard, Acer's Iconia Tab A100 - the little sibling of the larger, 10-inch A500 - was being delayed due to Honeycomb restrictions on 7-inch displays. Fortunately, though, it seems that all of those issues are now firmly in the past for Acer, as Engadget is reporting that the company is readying its tablet for an early August launch, with a suggested retail price of $300.

In case you need a little refresher on the specs of the A100, a 1GHz Tegra 2 processor will be running the show. There will also be 512MB RAM available alongside 8GB of internal storage.

Jul

Google Maps Adds Public Transport Support For London, Makes The Tube A Little Less Confusing For Tourists

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, News

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello! What 'ave we here? It looks like Google is finally embracing public transport in London, adding public transport directions to its Google Maps application on Android devices.

From today, users can now get directions within London using both bus routes and the Underground, too. Using your current location to determine the best route to take to your destination, the application will provide you with a series of instructions that mix walking with various other transportation options.

The release is certainly good timing for London, as it will host the 2012 Olympic games in just under a years time, so hopefully tourists will be able to find their way around the city with a little more ease thanks to the technology on offer.

Jul

Sprint Posts Q2 2011 Results Boasting 1 Million Additional Subscribers, Still Makes Net Loss Of $847 Million

Posted by John Thompson in News, Sprint

They say that there are two sides to every story, and that certainly holds true for Sprint after they announced their second quarter 2011 results this morning.

Once again, the network has reported that in the course of Q2 2011 it has wrapped up more than 1 million net wireless subscriber additions, increasing their revenue from consumers. The quarter is also Sprint's fourteenth consecutive quarter of improved customer care satisfaction, showing that customers are enjoying the unlimited plans currently being offered.

“Sprint’s second quarter results, including our fourteenth consecutive quarter of improved customer care satisfaction, our best ever postpaid churn, more than 1 million net wireless subscriber additions and wireless service revenue growth, validate that our focus on providing simplicity, value and an unmatched customer experience is working,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO.

Jul

Nissan Releases The Official LEAF App, Hopes It Proves More Popular Than The Actual Car

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, News

Nissan has released an application today that's going to make their two-dozen LEAF owners very happy: an official LEAF app that allows you to directly control features in the car from your Android phone.

Jokes aside, the app is actually very neat and packs in some really futuristic features. If you have an active CARWINGS subscription, then you can view the battery's current charge level and even begin charging the car remotely from your phone if it's connected to a power source. The application will also be able to tell you how long it is until the charge will be completed.

Jul

Sprint Confirms 4G LTE Deal With LightSquared

Posted by John Thompson in 4G, News, Sprint

Right on time, Sprint has just announced that it has entered into a 15-year agreement with LightSquared to provide 4G LTE capabilities on its network. According to Sprint's press release, "LightSquared will make payments to Sprint of approximately $9 billion in cash for spectrum hosting and network services as well as LTE and satellite purchase credits which are currently estimated to be valued at approximately $4.5 billion".

With this deal going ahead, LightSquared expects nationwide 4G to cover 260 million people in the USA by 2014 - one year ahead of the FCC mandate of 2015.

“This spectrum hosting agreement with LightSquared allows Sprint to more efficiently use its Network Vision platform,” said Steve Elfman, president of Network Operations and Wholesale for Sprint.