Liam Spradlin
Besides being an avid Android fan and blogger, Liam is a photographer with a degree in both Anthropology and Sociology. He can usually be found reading through blogs, taking photos, or studying ancient pottery. Liam has been known to leave on international trips at a moment's notice, and can't resist a new challenge.

09
May
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Samsung Introduces Side Sync: 'PC In Mobile, Mobile In PC' With A Fatal Flaw

Posted by in News, Samsung, Videos

Samsung has just announced details of a new syncing/file management tool called Side Sync, which it mentioned last month alongside new ATIV PC branding.

The basic idea behind the app is easy, painless file and information transfer from PC to mobile and vice versa. This is accomplished using a dock that plugs into your PC's USB port. Once hooked up, you can share your mouse and keyboard with your Samsung phone, dragging and dropping files, and copying and pasting information as you please. Users can also set the service to automatically sync photos. Here's Samsung's introductory video for the product:

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As great as the service looks, the tagline "PC in Mobile, Mobile in PC" is at least a little misleading - Side Sync doesn't just work with just any PC – it's only compatible Samsung PCs.

09
May
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TestFlight Offers Beta Android App Deployment To All After Serving 4,500 Apps In Private Beta

Posted by in Applications, News

Back in February, TestFlight announced that it would be bringing its services to Android in the form of a private beta, having already served over 300,000 apps on iOS. Today, though, TestFlight has announced that it is ready to lift the private beta, opening beta Android compatibility to all users. TestFlight says that during its 45-day beta period, 5000 developers uploaded over 4500 apps. 

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The service, for those unfamiliar, is a widely popular beta testing platform, allowing developers to quickly and smoothly deploy beta apps to select users. Though, as we mentioned in our previous coverage, other options do exist for Android developers (like the Play Store’s private app deployment), TestFlight does offer considerable value in terms of security, helpful tracking and analytics, and - perhaps best of all - centralized feedback.

06
May
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TV Guide Mobile Version 3 Released With Interface, Experience Overhaul For ICS, Jelly Bean Users

Posted by in Applications, News

If you've been paying attention to TV Guide's official app, you know that it's needed some attention for a while. Its UI through version 2.x was an outdated pastiche of Gingerbread tabs and gradated iconography desperately in need of a redesign (and support for 4.0+). Today, TV Guide has fulfilled that need (for the most part), bringing to the Play Store TV Guide Mobile version 3.0. The update also brought "many cool new features" to the app, which we'll discuss momentarily. First though, check out the difference between the old and new interfaces.

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Before: ew.

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After: yay!

06
May
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Feedly Updated To Version 15, Taking Focus On Bug Fixes, Better Support For Comics

Posted by in Applications, News

In a post to the official blog a few days ago, Feedly announced a new beta – version 15 – which quickly found itself released to the Play Store. The service, which has greeted over three million new users since the announcement of Google Reader's impending doom, promises a painless transition to its own backend solution once Reader closes officially in July. While said backend may not have taken hold yet, the developers have been hard at work making the app itself better and better in response to its users.

Its most recent update takes focus mainly on bug fixes and UX issues, but adds at least one neat feature – better support for comics.

06
May
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Deal Alert: Jawbone's BIG Jambox Available On Amazon For $249.99 (That's $50.00 Off)

Posted by in Accessories, Deals

We first heard about the Jambox's larger sibling, the BIG Jambox, just over a year ago. At the time, it promised to be bigger (of course) and better than the original, offering a bigger battery, a wall power adapter, and "unbelievable sound". If reviews are to be believed, the Jambox managed to deliver good sound and power, while maintaining the unique design language of its smaller counterpart.

If you're in the market for a Bluetooth speaker, the BIG Jambox is a decent choice, and Amazon's sweetened the prospect by putting the device on sale for $249.99, down $50 from its usual $299.99 price.

05
May
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evleaks Posts Photo Of Unknown LG Handset – 'G2? Just A Guess…'

Posted by in Leaks, LG, News, Rumors

If there's one thing that never goes out of style in the Android community, it's rumors. Oh, and leaks. Around Google I/O and "Nexus season," leaks and rumors abound. Some Nexus-related, some … not. Today, one of tech's most prolific leaksters, evleaks, let loose an image of an unspecified LG handset. Posting to Facebook, evleaks asked "G2? Just a guess…" as speculations began whirling.

The device, which has an undeniably sparse front side (of which the most interesting aspect is the speaker grill), bears all the normal sensors, no hardware keys or buttons, a huge screen, small bezels, and a sheet of glass that appears to feature a comfortable (yet subtle) curve on all sides.

01
May
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Google Updates Platform Distribution Numbers – Gingerbread Down To 38.5%, Jelly Bean Up To 28.4%

Posted by in Android OS, Development, Google, News

As usual Google has updated monthly platform distribution numbers for Android in its developer dashboard. The numbers, based on devices accessing the Play Store over the last 14 days (ending May 1st), tell developers which versions of Android are most prevalent, and which are on the decline.

This month, as last month, we're seeing a decline in Gingerbread and a rise in Jelly Bean. Gingerbread has dropped from 39.8% to 38.5%, a 1.3% drop for those keeping tally at home. Jelly Bean, meanwhile, has seen a slightly more substantial shift, rising 3.4% from 25% to 28.4%.

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Elsewhere, the ebb and flow of version numbers is more or less expected.

30
Apr
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Cracking Glass – Saurik Posts Account Of Google Glass Root, Controversy, Exploits, And How To Crack Your Own Glass

Posted by in Development, Glass, Google, News

Several days ago, something happened that sent a not insignificant ripple through coverage of Google Glass: someone "jailbroke" the device.

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Saurik, who posted the above photo to Twitter, had modified Glass' software "while in the Bay Area after picking it up from Google's headquarters in Mountain View."

Understandably, this idea was a bit bedeviling to the press – ostensibly, Glass is a relatively limited platform for developers, who can only write apps using a web-based API, allowing software to be integrated with the device over the internet. Eric Schmidt's words regarding the relative closed-ness (or at least, less-than-total openness) of Glass' platform to start were still wet on the page.

30
Apr
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Paranoid Android Says Hello To Halo – 'This Is How You Do Multi Windowing On Android'

Posted by in Android OS, Development, News

After some teasing, Paranoid Android has unveiled (in a lovely promo image) their plan for multi-window functionality on Android, which they promise to "get right," – Halo.

The premise is simple, yet extremely ambitious in scope – allow apps to give you notifications right on top of your screen, which allow you to pop into that app without leaving the one you're in (no matter what it is), take care of business, and resume your experience uninterrupted. The general concept, which rejects the notion of a distracting notification shade, and shuns implementations like "whacky s-multiwindow,"  is no doubt inspired by Facebook's admittedly awesome Chat Heads functionality, perhaps the most compelling feature of its new Home app.

30
Apr
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Mophie's New 2500mAh Juice Pack For The HTC One Can Be Yours For $99.95

Posted by in Accessories, HTC, News, One

Mophie, purveyor of popular Juice Pack cases, today announced its offering for the acclaimed HTC One. The case maker is offering the One-specific 2500mAh case for $99.95 in Black at first, with a Silver version to come in "mid-May."

For those who aren't familiar, Mophie manufactures cases that are just a little more special than your average shell – besides protecting your device, they also charge its battery. The cases do this using a special "pass through" port that can be used for data transfer, or charging the case and the device inside (simultaneously, if you're into that).

Though Mophie's claims of the case being "lightweight and low-profile" may be a bit of a stretch, the shell does look quite elegant, if a little puffy surrounding the svelte physique of HTC's all-metal One.

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