Liam Spradlin - 79/99 - 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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Nov

Good News – The Android Market Can Now Be Installed On Amazon's Kindle Fire

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, Development, Kindle Fire, News

Since before the launch of Amazon's Kindle Fire, the Android community has been atwitter, planning to break through the shopping giant's custom Android variant to achieve a true Android experience. Coming one step closer to that, BriefMobile has provided detailed instructions on how to get the Android Market running on Amazon's affordable 7" slate.

Of course, the Kindle Fire is not compatible with all the apps in the Market, so you may notice a few missing. Hopefully developers will be adding support for the Fire in the future, but for now, there are still plenty of reasons you want the Market on Amazon's Android tablet.

Nov

Awesome New Accessory For ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer Prime Surfaces – A Magnetic Cover Inspired By Origami

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

It looks like those of us who are getting amped up for the release of ASUS' Eee Pad Transformer Prime have one more thing to look forward to – an awesome magnetic folding cover which will attach to the Prime's aluminum frame and fold up to hold the tablet in portrait or landscape orientation, at a variety of angles.

This cover is, no doubt, inspired by the popular cover Apple introduced with the iPad 2, but puts an interesting twist on the concept, adding a few folds, and giving the case the overall appearance of an origami sculpture. I'll be the first to admit that I am envious of the iPad's Smart Cover, and it looks like this will provide a great alternative for those who plan on picking up a Transformer Prime.

Nov

[Mobile Security App Shootout, Part 17] NetQin Security Pro Focuses On Anti-Virus Protection Over Anti-Theft, Still Makes A Capable Solution

Posted by Liam Spradlin in App Reviews, Applications, Mobile Security App Shootout

Last Updated: November 21st, 2011

Coming in at number seventeen in our shootout, NetQin Security Pro is a security app that offers a lot more than your average anti-theft protection, even if that means skimping a little on features that may help you recover your lost device.

At A Glance

First, I want to comment on NetQin's design. The app's overall appearance is clean, and relatively well thought out. The main screen gives you access to all the app's main features, and the layout makes it virtually impossible to misstep. Speaking of features, NetQin has plenty of them, including anti-virus, privacy protection, traffic management, and anti-theft options.

Nov

Awesome Mod: Slide 2 Wake Kernel Wakes/Locks Your GSM HTC Evo 3D By Swiping Across Capacitive Buttons – Support For More Devices In The Works

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Development, News

Developer bponury, the mind behind WifiKill and FaceNiff, has created something that looks pretty awesome, if you're the owner of a GSM-enabled HTC Evo 3D. That something is the Slide 2 Wake kernel, which allows you to wake and lock your device by sliding a finger across your Evo 3D's capacitive buttons. The kernel is still in its very early stages, but seems to perform quite well.

While the kernel is only running on one very specific device for now, there is hope for at least a port to the CDMA variant of the 3D, and perhaps other devices with capacitive buttons as well.

Nov

Scientists At Northwestern University Boost Lithium Ion Battery Performance Tenfold By Poking Millions Of Holes, Enabling 15 Minute Charge Times, Week-Long Life

Posted by Liam Spradlin in News, Off-Topic

From the day I picked up the original Evo 4G, I realized that battery technology was, no doubt, lagging behind the devices it powered. Looking to push batteries a bit closer to the impressive power of today's mobile technology, researchers at Northwestern University have significantly boosted the power of lithium-ion batteries by making a few key changes.

To achieve such impressive performance enhancements, the researchers essentially poked millions of holes in the battery's graphene layers using a chemical oxidation process. Additionally, tweaks were made to the material makeup of the batteries, including packing in more ions and speeding up their movement by replacing sheets of silicon with a different substance.

Nov

Adobe Officially Releases Six Touch Apps For Android – Making Design, Editing, And Presentation Easier And More Portable Than Ever

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Last Updated: August 2nd, 2012

At midnight EST, Adobe released the much-anticipated family of Touch Apps to the Android Market, bringing an incredible array of design tools to Android 3.1+ tablets everywhere for $9.99 a pop. The list of included apps is, no doubt, impressive, including Kuler, Photoshop Touch, Debut, Ideas, Collage, and Proto. We've got full, hands-on reviews of each in the works, but in the meantime, it's worth summing up each of the apps individually.

Creative Cloud

Before digging into the individual apps, it's important to mention Adobe's Creative Cloud. The Creative Cloud is what brings Adobe's Touch Apps together, allowing users to upload and download content in a variety of formats to and from the cloud, connecting Android Tablets and desktop machines.

Nov

Official BitTorrent Remote Client Hits Android Market – Manage Downloads, Get Information, And Check Feeds On The Go

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

BitTorrent users now have another useful tool at their disposal with the introduction of an official BitTorrent remote client to the Android Market. BitTorrent Inc. (which also owns uTorrent), recently released BitTorrent Remote, an app that allows users to monitor, manage, and control torrent downloads on the go from their mobile devices.

Besides enabling control over torrent downloads, BitTorrent Remote also allows users to get a detailed readout of information related to each download, including speed, file size, seeds, and ETA. The client also allows the user to begin downloads by simply downloading them on a mobile browser, or clicking torrent links within webpages.

Nov

Loquendo's TTS Engines Are Miles Ahead Of Others (Including PicoTTS)

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

Improving on existing TTS technology, Loquendo (a Nuance company) is showing the world that "even computers can show their feelings," with a huge array of TTS engines that are not only more advanced, but significantly more dynamic than existing alternatives.

The bad news is that only two of these engines are currently available for Android – Italian TTS Paola and American English TTS Susan. That being said, we can still hope that more of Loquendo's engines will be adapted for Android, and, in the meantime, Loquendo's website has amazing demos of all its TTS voices, both static and interactive.

Loquendo TTS Paola

Loquendo TTS Susan

Nov

[Video] Paradroid Is A Self-Navigating, Skydiving Robot Controlled By An Onboard Android Handset

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Development, Videos

Adding to the list of awesome Android-related gadgetry, Tomer Weller and Yossi Sorin have created Paradroid, a self-navigating skydiving robot powered by an attached Android handset.

Beginning as a project for Google Developer's day ADK challenge, Paradroid is still a work in progress. That being said, it already seems to have some impressive capabilities, functioning from heights of over 1000ft., parachuting safely to the ground, and navigating to a predetermined location, all while sending back handy status reports.

While it's already a pretty amazing device, it will be interesting to see how the project progresses, and what applications will be found for the Paradroid, outside being a fun curiosity.

Nov

Screen Shots Surface Showing What Could Be The Google Music Store – Expect Free Song Of The Day, Recommended Artists, And More

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News, Rumors

Lending credence to theories that Google's November 16th event may have something to do with the debut of the Google Music Store, a writer at TecnoDroidVe has discovered (what appears to be) a work-in-progress version of the store, accessing it from his HTC Inspire 4G. While it's unclear how exactly Ricardo found his way into the Music Store, the screenshots he was able to recover look very promising.

While the Music Store isn't fully functional (you can't purchase or download songs yet), there is evidence that it will be awesome. For starters, Google has evidently integrated a "Free Song Of The Day" feature, which, as the name implies, offers users a free song each day.