Nate Kimmey - 18/21 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jul

The Facts Behind AndroLib Android Market Application Discrepancies

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

The news of the Android Market reaching the milestone of 100,000 apps may have been great news for Android – but perhaps it came a bit too soon.

Those numbers come from AndroLib, but Google has announced the official numbers, with the Android Market having just over 70,000 apps. So, why the big difference in numbers? Google’s numbers come only from the official Android Market, the one pre-loaded on just about every Android phone, and the one you are probably most familiar with.

But AndroLib calculates its own numbers quite differently. In addition to counting several additional markets, AndroLib counts the number of apps that have appeared in the Market, and does not account for deleted apps; oftentimes, this can lead to multiple duplicated apps in their count.

Jul

International Samsung Galaxy S Root Method Working On Vibrant/Captivate (T-Mobile/AT&T)

Posted by Nate Kimmey in AT&T, Captivate, Development, Galaxy S, News, Samsung, T-Mobile, Vibrant

Were you planning on holding off on your purchase of one of the US Samsung Galaxy S variants because you require root? Well, worry no more – the root method used on the international version of the Galaxy S has proven to work on T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant and AT&T’s Samsung Captivate.

Two methods are already available, and both are fairly simple. Read the instructions below, or check out the source link for the most up-to-date instructions.

First method:
If you have adb and you know how to use it!
1. Download: update.zip
2. Put update.zip to SD card
3. Enter

Code:
adb reboot recovery
4.

Jul

HTC Aria Now Able To Side Load Apps Thanks To Sync Update

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, Aria (Liberty), AT&T, HTC, News

Nobody was happy to learn that the HTC Aria would be locked down in the same way as its predecessor, the Backflip, and be unable to install non-Market apps. Fortunately, HTC has given Aria owners a sort of “fix” through an update in their desktop client.

The newest version of HTC Sync for Aria (which you can download for Windows here) gives users the ability to load an APK onto their phone, which means they now have access to a host of new apps that are not available on the Market. However, HTC did previously stress that the update would not include this feature, so you may want to update in case this feature is removed in the near future.

Jul

Google App Inventor Promises App Creation For Android Without Programming Knowledge

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

Google’s push for developer support knows no bounds. While they have previously used free phones to encourage developers to work with Android, they are now using an entirely different tactic – making everyone a developer.

App Inventor

How will they go about this? Through the just-announced App Inventor. Already in beta form, the program is designed to allow anyone to create fully functional apps for Android, without any programming whatsoever. Instead of using code, App Inventor allows you to choose from a set of blocks, which includes all the actions you are used to seeing in Android apps. In fact, the description is quick to point out all the things you can do with it:

You can build just about any app you can imagine with App Inventor.

Jul

Motorola WX445 To Be Verizon’s New Bargain Bin Droid?

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Motorola, News, Verizon Wireless

Similar to devices being offered up by competing carriers – Sprint’s Intercept, AT&T’s Backflip and Aria, T-Mobile’s entire line-up – Verizon plans to introduce a cheaper, low-end alternative to pricier Android models. Engadget reports that the the Motorola WX445 runs Android 2.1 with some type of MOTOBLUR overlay (possibly the same version used on the Droid X), and sports a screen measuring somewhere between 2.5 and 3 inches.

The phone was also described as looking very “cheap,” and has been likened to a keyboardless Palm Pre. It goes without saying that this device probably won’t be the biggest hit in Verizon’s Android line-up.

Jul

HTC: No Android Tablet In The Works, Yet

Posted by Nate Kimmey in HTC, News

HTC may be pushing the limits on the size of smartphones with the EVO4G, but don’t expect that trend to translate tablets any time soon. While the iPad is undoubtedly the dominant tablet on the market right now, a number of Android-powered tablets are under development, and some are bound to hit the market sooner or later. Unfortunately, HTC is not one of the companies working on such a device, instead preferring to play wait-and-see with the competition:

"We are always looking at it, but, right now, the whole idea is that in order to be successful with a tablet, you need to have something compelling.

Jul

Trillian To Bring Cross-Platform Chat To Android

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Applications, News

Chat on Android is about to get a whole lot better. Cerulean Studios, developers of cross-platform instant messaging client Trillian, are finally bringing their creation to Android. It’s certainly time – their iPhone application has been available for some time, while their Blackberry application is already in beta. Unfortunately, the first beta is still a few weeks away, but you can look forward to these great features:

Connect to Facebook Chat, Windows Live, Yahoo!, AIM, ICQ, Google Talk, Jabber/XMPP and MySpaceIM

Synchronize your contacts, avatars, status, accounts and more with your Trillian-enabled desktop or mobile apps

Get notified easily with Android notification system integration

Contact list sorting, grouping, metacontacts support, privacy settings and various ways to organize

Set status, avatar and display name quickly in one simple screen

Tabbed chat windows with bubble view, photo transfer, buzz and emoticon support

Support for Android phones as far back as version 1.6 – works with your good old T-Mobile G1 or the newest HTC Evo 4G or Motorola Droid!

Jul

Possible T-Mobile Roadmap Leaked, Reveals New Devices From HTC, LG & Motorola

Posted by Nate Kimmey in CHARM, CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), CLIQ XT (Zeppelin), HTC, LG, Motorola, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

T-Mobile may not have the most impressive Android line-up compared to the other major carriers, but there’s no doubt they’ve invested a lot into the platform – after all, they were the first to bring us Android with the G1. Their investment in Android shows no signs of slowing down, as a leaked T-Mobile roadmap shows us that the carrier is planning on launching a total of seven more Android devices this year.

As we’ve already known, the Samsung Vibrant and Motorola Charm are going to be released this July (the leak points to a July 21 release for both, but that may not be true anymore), possible updates for the Motorola Cliq and Cliq XT in August, and the release of the HTC “Vanguard” as well as an update for the Charm in September.

Jul

T-Mobile’s Samsung Vibrant To Launch One Week Early On July 15

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Galaxy S, News, T-Mobile, Vibrant

It seems T-Mobile simply can’t wait to get its new high-end Android offering on the market. Citing “multiple sources”, TmoNews is reporting that the Samsung Vibrant (T-Mobile’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S) is due to launch July 15, one week earlier than was previously reported. It seems pretty clear that T-Mobile is trying to take away the thunder of another Android superphone launching on July 15 – but T-Mobile will need to build up a lot of hype to take down the newest member of Verizon’s Droid army.

UPDATE: Now With Visual Confirmation (Thanks TmoNews!)

Source: TmoNews

Jul

HTC Phones To Receive Froyo Before Christmas

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), EVO 4G (Supersonic), HTC, Incredible, Legend, News, Wildfire (Buzz)

Update schedules are rarely a final thing, and users can get quite angry when they don’t receive updates according to schedule. However, HTC may have finally given themselves a schedule that they can adhere to: all of their recently released phones will be updated to Android 2.2 “before Christmas.” They had previously announced that ‘several’ models would receive the update in Q3 2010, so it’s unclear if this announcement means that timetable has shifted.

While rumors say that the HTC Desire could receive the update in August, other HTC phones might not be updated for several months. HTC’s higher-end devices, such as the Droid Incredible and EVO, will likely be updated fairly quickly.