Liam Spradlin - 26/99 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

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.

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Oct

Square Expands Service To Canada, Mobile App Receives Minor Refresh

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

Square, the service that makes "commerce easy for everyone," has just expanded its mobile payment/commerce service to Canada.

For those unaware, Square is an app/accessory that allows you to accept credit card payments anywhere from Android or iOS devices. The company provides a free card reader and app in exchange for a small percentage of each completed transaction, giving small and independent businesses an easy, inexpensive, and secure way to open up their products to those paying with plastic.

In a press release posted to their website earlier today, Square announced that its expansion of service to Canada marked its first step in going international.

Oct

[Deal Alert] Samsung Galaxy Note II (T-Mobile) Goes Live At Wirefly.com For $279.99 On Contract

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Deals, Galaxy Note II, News, T-Mobile

Samsung's latest flagship – the Galaxy Note II – which we've so far only seen on video and in international markets, is finally (officially) headed to States-side carriers, with AT&T beginning pre-orders and Sprint and T-Mobile officially launching the device today.

In addition to official carrier launches (and the opening of pre-orders), though, Wirefly.com has opened up orders for the Galaxy Note II's T-Mobile variant, listing the flagship phablet at $279.99 for new or upgrading contracts. This beats T-Mobile's $369.99 price by a weighty $90.00, and it's worth noting that Wirefly is throwing in free shipping.

Oct

This May Or May Not Be A Photo Of Sony's Unannounced 5-Inch C650X 'Odin' Handset

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Leaks, News, Rumors, Sony

A couple of weeks ago, Xperia blog posted what appeared to be User-Agent Profile information revealing the existence of Sony's purported upcoming flagship, the C650X codenamed Odin.

The information seemed to point toward an Xperia device running Android 4.1.1 Jelly Bean, with separate rumors suggesting a 5" display at 1080x1920 resolution (441ppi), a Qualcomm S4 Pro quad-core processor, and 2GB of RAM.

Today, a photo has surfaced that, according to Concept-Phones, depicts the yet-unseen Odin. As with any other photo-based rumor, we had to take a closer look.

Oct

[New App] FPS Meter Shows Just How Many Frames Per Second You're Getting In Any App (Root Only)

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Last Updated: October 22nd, 2012

One of the things that makes Fraps so popular among PC gamers is its ability to capture frames per second info in the corner of just about any game, allowing users to monitor and benchmark performance.

Bringing similar functionality to your Android device, FPS Meter shows just how many frames per second any app is running at, and by extension allows you to capture video of that performance with the recording app of your choice.

The interface is as straightforward as possible – a few options like text size, location, and transparency, and a giant button to activate the fps counter.

Oct

'Anatomy Of A Hoax' – Source Of Sony Nexus X Fake Comes Clean [Updated x3]

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Leaks, News, Rumors

UPDATE 3: EVLeaks has now rescinded his previous statements.

I made a mistake. I've seen proof that the AP team worked hard to debunk - not perpetrate - this hoax. I hope they will accept my apologies.

— @evleaks (@evleaks) October 20, 2012

While we don't appreciate the manner in which EVLeaks (and others) initially approached this situation with conspiracy theories, baseless accusations, and speculation, we appreciate EVLeaks' withdrawal of previous comments, and our readers' support through the entire episode. Going forward we will continue to maintain our standard of ethics while delivering newsworthy content.

UPDATE 2: The original hoaxster, Ti Kawamoto has just tweeted another confirmation:

@teamandirc @evleaks Yeah, it was me who produced the fakes, not @androidpolice..

Oct

WhitePages 2.0 Released With New Interface, Social, Discovery Functionality

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Following up on the success of its Current Caller ID app, WhitePages has released version 2.0 of the WhitePages app, bringing a slick new Android-oriented UI and new social/discovery features along for the ride.

Besides its newly holo-fied interface design, the WhitePages app adds the ability to connect with friends and neighbors with a Nearby People functionality that can be used, as seen in the video, to "find a friend" and plan a lunch. Likewise, you can search for nearby businesses and restaurants, even taking a sneak peek at restaurant menus.

Once you get tired of finding new friends and businesses, you can share where you're going (or where you've been) with friends via various social media outlets, and invite them to come along.

Oct

[New App] Orbitz.com Launches Hotels By Orbitz App – Discover, Explore, Book Hotels On The Go

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Orbitz.com, one of the top online travel/booking resources around, has just released a new app – Hotels by Orbitz, meant to help users find, book, and enjoy hotels in thousands of destinations world-wide, whether you need a room tonight, or want to book a future stay.

The app, which has a somewhat slick – though not strictly holo – interface, not only lets users search for and book hotels, but also provides access to Orbitz Mobile Steals – "exclusive mobile-only discounts of up to 50%." The app also allows you to find hotels based on your current location, and sort search results, like with Orbitz's online interface, by best value, lowest price, or by distance.

Oct

Onyx International Working On Android-Powered E Ink Smartphone [Video]

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, News

E Ink has long been lauded as a versatile, universally legible display technology, making appearances in NOOK tablets, Amazon Kindle devices, and a couple of weird prototypes over the years.

Onyx International, a manufacturer of ebook readers, has evidently created a prototype smartphone – powered by Android – that uses a full E Ink display.

The phone you see above is apparently the only prototype of this device in existence (so far). While the specs aren't named, we can see that the device is running Android Gingerbread, and not without its issues. Of course, as a – presumably – unfinished device, bugs are to be expected.

Oct

Quick Hands-On: CyanDelta Updater Brings You Incremental CM Updates, Eliminates Nightly 200MB Downloads

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, Development, News

Many of you probably already know how I feel about CyanogenMod – I swear by it, especially on my EVO LTE. Nothing beats it in terms of bringing a (mostly) stock experience to your device with just the right amount of tweaks and extra features. Plus, there are nightly updates that satisfy my need to stay on the bleeding edge and get a daily fix of… fixes. The only downside to this is that each nightly update (for my EVO, anyway) hovers around 180MB, a download that takes just a little more time than I care to spend sometimes.

Enter CyanDelta Updater.

Oct

Sprint's Galaxy Nexus Landing Page Accidentally (Doesn't) Tease Galaxy Nexus 2

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News, Rumors, Sprint

As Nexus season progresses, and as we approach Google's October 29th event, rumors and speculation are reaching a fever pitch. Tonight, we caught sight of a story over at Gizmo Fusion pointing out a suspicious Sprint landing page potentially teasing Samsung's mythical Galaxy Nexus 2 so many fans have been hoping for.

The page in question (which one of our readers, Freak4Dell, also noticed) is Sprint's landing page for the original Galaxy Nexus which, for at least two days now, has had an interesting title – "Samsung Galaxy Nexus 2 – 4g Android Smartphone from Sprint".

Just in case anybody out there took this as a sign that their Galaxy Nexus 2 prayers would definitely be answered, we should point out that this almost certainly doesn't tease an unannounced device.