Liam Spradlin - 62/99 - 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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Feb

LG Spectrum Gets Root Access Thanks To Dan Rosenberg

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

Last Updated: August 27th, 2012

Dan Rosenberg, a security researcher and rooting mastermind, has done it again, this time making quick work of the LG Spectrum. In a post to his blog just moments ago, Rosenberg simply states "Yawn. LG loses, users win," and gives instructions on downloading the scripts he provides for Windows, Linux, and OSX.

Considering all that Rosenberg has done (and continues to do) for the community, I'd highly recommend supporting him by hitting the donate button below. Having already taken that possibility into consideration, Rosenberg has the following to say on the subject of supporting his efforts with money:

I encourage anyone thinking of donating in thanks to direct your donation to the American Red Cross or another reputable charitable organization.

Feb

Motorola Xoom Family Edition Rooted (Again) Following Latest OTA Update

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, News, XOOM

After learning that yesterday's XYBoard root (which was thought to work on all Gingerbread/Honeycomb Moto devices) didn't play nice with Motorola's Xoom Family Edition, highly respected security researcher Dan Rosenberg decided to have a look, hoping to bring root back to the FE.

In a post to his blog earlier today, Rosenberg announced that he has found a working exploit for rooting the Xoom Family Edition. Rosenberg has again beaten others to the punch, namely a developer called Evil_DevNull, who Rosenberg calls out in the post for the alleged plagiarism of a previous FE exploit.

The post goes on to explain the "stupidest root ever," making clear a convenient vulnerability that was evidently begging to be exploited:

The first few arguments cmdclient supports are “ec_recovery”, “ec_btmac”, “ec_snid”, “ec_skunumber”, and “ec_imeiwithbarcode”.

Feb

[New Game] Gamelion's Monster Shooter Hits The Market – Shoot Through Thousands Of Aliens Across Multiple Planets, Save A Cat

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Games, News

Gamelion released the highly anticipated dual joystick shooting game Monster Shooter to the Android Market today. The game is a dynamic, quirky shooter that takes players to various alien planets, and gives them a wide arsenal of weapons, power ups, missions, and competitive rankings a la OpenFeint.

Monster Shooter puts players in the shoes of an alien named Dum Dum, whose cat has been stolen by an opposing alien race. Following the most reasonable course of action, Dum Dum ventures out with an impressive selection of weaponry, and a bloodthirst that will eliminate heaps of enemy aliens across a ton of levels.

Feb

Droid X To Receive Update To 4.5.621.MB810 – Here's What To Expect

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Droid X (Shadow), News, Verizon Wireless

Owners of Motorola's Droid X should be expecting an OTA update "soon," which will bring the device's build up to version 4.5.621.MB810. Despite the fact that Verizon's announcement page says "Droid X2" in the title, the update will in fact bring its bevy of enhancements to the original Droid X. Among these are improvements to the OTA process itself, browser security (a la Google's 2.3.6 security patch), and various stability and bug fixes. Verizon's announcement document lists the full set of enhancements, for those interested:

Verizon has also provided a handy instruction sheet for updating your device, though the update is – as yet – still listed as "coming soon." The process should be familiar – just hit settings > About Phone > System Updates > Download.

Feb

Paper Camera Updated To Version 2.0, Adds Video Capability, Android Beam Support

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Droid 3, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy Note (GT-N7000), Galaxy S II, News

Paper Camera, one of the most successful camera apps on the Android Market, got an update to version 2.0 today. You may remember our preview of version 2.0 earlier this month, 2.0 being the update which promised to add video capability to the already awesome app. Well, JFDP Labs LTD has made good on that promise, and thrown in a few other tweaks as well.

At the moment, only the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy SII, Galaxy Note, Droid 3, and Transformer Prime have official video support, but JFDP advises that other devices "might have some degree of support."

Besides added video capabilities, Paper Camera has also received support for Android Beam, allowing users to transfer images seamlessly between devices powered by Ice Cream Sandwich.

Feb

[New App] Design Review Mobile From Autodesk Hits The Market, Enables On The Go Design Editing

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Looking to expedite (and ease) the process of reviewing designs, Autodesk has released another handy app for Android – Design Review Mobile. The app allows users to open 2D and 3D DWF (Design Web Format) files from their Android-powered phone or tablet for quick review and red-lining on the go.

Design Review Mobile gives the user plenty of options, from viewing meta data, to creating easy markup or callout notes, to pushing and pulling files to and from the Autodesk Cloud.

Besides its core functionality, Design Review Mobile has an exceedingly intuitive interface, using familiar panning, zooming, and rotation methods for quick, easy inspection.

Feb

Demolition Inc. Headed For NVIDIA's Tegra Zone In March, Bringing Wacky, Physics-Based Destruction To Your Device

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Games, News

Demolition Inc., a popular action/strategy which made its debut on Steam about five months ago, is headed for Android by way of NVIDIA's Tegra Zone, expected to land sometime in March.

According to NVIDIA, the game is "100% physics technology," leaving just about everything up to the player. Demolition Inc. follows the story of a demolition worker named Mike, who happens to pilot a UFO.

While flying Mike's UFO over various Earth cities, players can use a variety of weapons and tools to wreak havoc on the planet. Players can drop explosive cows, self-driven cars, and even high rise buildings on cities in an effort to utterly annihilate Earth.

Feb

Helicon Remote (Beta) Offers Tethered DSLR Control For Nikon (And Canon) Users, Including Advanced Bracketing And Live View

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

As someone who primarily shoots with Nikon equipment, I was somewhat disappointed to learn that Chainfire's DSLR Controller (while awesome) lacked support for Nikon cameras back when it came out. Looking to alleviate the Nikon user's plight, Helicon Soft Ltd. introduced Helicon Remote (beta) to the Android Market some time ago, allowing Nikon and Canon users alike to shoot while tethered to an Android tablet running Honeycomb 3.1 or later.

Helicon Remote boasts an impressive list of features, from advanced (read 15+ exposure) bracketing, to full screen live view, to time lapse shooting (which, unfortunately, isn't in the current beta).

Feb

[New App] Riversip Technology News Comes To Market, Provides Quick, Easy News Updates On The Go

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Looking to "help you catch up on technology news in minimal time and on your own schedule," Briox introduced Riversip to the Android Market recently. Riversip without a doubt provides a unique take on the "news reader" concept, automatically choosing news sources based on user-chosen topics, and showing only the top headlines, instead of clogging up your screen with every headline available.

Riversip also makes a point of its incredibly easy user experience, promising that "no setup or learning time [is] required." The app also allows users to see what other sources have reported on a given topic, providing a multitude of different angles for each headline.

Feb

Bump Gets Updated To "Totally New" Version 3.0, Includes New Design, Mutual Friends, And More

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Bump, a wildly popular wireless transfer app for Android and iOS, got an update to version 3.0 today, bringing several enhancements to the table. Perhaps the most notable among these is the completely redesigned interface, which Bump Technologies Inc. describes as both simple and beautiful. The UI appears to have been updated to a more ICS-cohesive design, bringing a tabbed interface and "action overflow" button to enhance functionality.

Besides the new UI, Bump has made contact transfer touch-free, enabled the transfer of "as many photos as you want" in one bump, and added an interesting feature that allows users to discover mutual friends by scanning through both parties' phonebooks.