Ron Amadeo - 11/19 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Ron Amadeo

Ron loves everything related to technology, design, and Google. He always wants to talk about "the big picture" and what's next for Android, and he's not afraid to get knee-deep in an APK for some details. Expect a good eye for detail, lots of research, and some lamenting about how something isn't designed well enough.

May

The Samsung Galaxy S III: The First Smartphone Designed Entirely By Lawyers

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Editorials, Galaxy S III, Legal, News, Samsung

The Galaxy S III is... well... it's ugly. There's really no other way to put it. But why? Why is it ugly? I don't mean aesthetically, why is it ugly, I mean, "How did something like this ever make it out of Samsung's design studio?" I'll tell you how, it was never in the design studio. This phone design was born down the hall, in a room where the door sign reads "Samsung Legal."

It was designed by lawyers.

I can tell just from the press shots, this thing is a Samsung lawyer's dream. I'm sure you must be thinking,"Hmm, that's a weird assumption to make." but don't worry, an explanation is forthcoming.

Apr

Verizon Xperia Play Updated To Version 4.0.2.E.0.57; It's Not Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Gingerbread 2.3, Sony Ericsson, Xperia Play (Zeus, PlayStation Phone)

I know, I know. 4.0.2 sounds a lot like Android 4.0, but it isn't. It's actually Gingerbread 2.3.4, and Verizon Xperia Play owners who wish to rock out like it's May 2011 need only mash the update button.

The good news (in addition to the version bump) is that this update will let you take pictures with the right trigger (how did they not think of that earlier?), enable 720p video with continuous autofocus, and fix those crazy bugs like charging forcing landscape mode. You also get to take screenshots with the power button. The bad news is that it will install Verizon Video on Demand and Verizon Navigator.

Apr

Samsung Canada Announces ICS Upgrades For Various Galaxy S II, Tab, and Note Models; The Only Thing Standing In The Way Now Is Your Carrier

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Galaxy Note (GT-N7000), Galaxy S II, Galaxy S II LTE HD, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab Seven, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Samsung

Samsung Canada has finished porting Ice Cream Sandwich to a whole bunch of devices, which in Samsung press release parlance means they are "eligible" for an upgrade. Does that mean you can hit that "update" button today and start downloading ICS? Well, that's complicated.

First though, the list of devices:

GALAXY S II
GALAXY S II LTE
GALAXY S II LTE HD
GALAXY S II X
GALAXY Note
GALAXY Tab 7.0
GALAXY Tab 7.0 Plus
GALAXY Tab 8.9
GALAXY Tab 10.1

Now, for the caveats: Sammy says "The upgrade will be available today on select devices in Canada and will continue rolling out to devices and carriers throughout the quarter." and "The availability of the software upgrade and specific models upgradable to Android 4.0 will vary by market and wireless carriers' requirements.

Apr

The Big Android Chart™: A Definitive History of Android Version Adoption

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, Cupcake 1.5, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, Gingerbread 2.3, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Last Updated: April 30th, 2012

Pop quiz: How long does it take for a new version of Android to be widely adopted? A new version of Android comes out, AOSP updates, OEMs adapt it to a myriad of devices, and carriers test the updates. That process. How long does it take?

It's a tough question to answer, mostly because Google doesn't provide data like that. The official site shows a 6 month version history, and that's it. Anyone looking for a decent amount of data is out of luck. There’s no way to view the long journey older Android versions have taken, and no way to see the bigger picture of how the update process eventually works out.

Apr

Google Drive "Support" Is Coming To Linux, Pray That It Doesn't Involve WINE

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Applications, News

Good news, Penguins! Google is working on a Drive client for your favorite OS!

Google Drive, if you haven't heard, is Google's Dropbox/Google Docs hybrid. It launched yesterday with 5GB of cloud storage and desktop apps for Windows and Mac, but our tuxedoed counterparts were left out in the cold.

The lack of Linux love caused a bit of an uproar on Google+, where #driveforlinux was a trending topic for a good part of the day. Teresa Wu, the Community Manager for Google Docs, took to a G+ thread and gave the happy news:

We're working on Linux support - hang tight!

Apr

Extensive Hands-On With Google Drive: They Forgot The Beta Tag

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Applications, News

Google Drive is real, and it's out, and I've been playing with it. If you haven't heard, Drive is Google's cloud storage offering. You get 5 GB free with an option to buy more.

You're going to hear two phrases over and over again in this hands on, so you'd better get used to them now: get ready to see "like Dropbox" and "like Google Docs" a lot.

Google Docs, by the way? Gone. It's dead. Totally replaced by Google Drive. The Android Docs app updates to Google Drive, the website has changed over too, and "Docs" is now replaced by "Drive" in the black navigation bar.

Jan

[Update: It's The Largest!] CES 2012 Is Officially The Largest CES Ever - Here Are Some Interesting Stats

Posted by Ron Amadeo in News

Update: Previously the CEA sent out a press release saying CES 2012 was the 2nd largest ever, now they've sent a new one, with new numbers, making CES 2012 was the largest ever. The new stats put it at 1.861 million net square feet, 3,100 exhibitors, and 153,000 attendees. Did we mention CES was big? It's big.

CES 2012 is big. Like, really big. In fact, it's the second largest ever. The CEA is very proud of their gigantic trade show, and they've sent us some statistics to celebrate.

CES exhibitors sucked up 1.851 million net square feet this year, 2nd only to 2008's CES, which clocked in at 1.857 million net square feet.

Jan

[Updated: Announcement Video] Google Finally Launches An Ice Cream Sandwich Style Guide - Please, Please, Please Follow It

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Videos

Hey Devs! You've got work to do.

Google is finally showing developers what an Android app should look like. Android Design is Google's freshly launched style guide for Ice Cream Sandwich. It outlines everything developers should do to make a high quality app that "fits in" with the rest of ICS.

Most of the big stuff is covered: Icons, color swatches, grid layouts, writing style, touch feedback - it's beautiful. Apps are normally all over the place, it will be really nice to see some consistency.

These are just guidelines, they won't be made mandatory in any way. So developers, I know this guide is insanely late, but please follow this.

Jan

[CES 2012] Motorola To Stop Flooding The Market With Thousands Of Phones

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Motorola, News

"More wood behind fewer arrows."

That's the phrase Larry Page used to describe Google's recent shut down of underperforming products. Stop flooding the market with crap, and focus on fewer, higher quality products. Now it seems Motorola has somehow gotten the exact same idea.

AllThingsD reports that Motorola "plans to release fewer new models this year, in an effort to concentrate its marketing dollars." I hope they are concentrating their design, polish, and update efforts too.

Motorola's release schedule since they jumped on the Android train has been absolutely insane. Their 2011 US product lineup looked something like this:

Droid 3
Droid Bionic
Droid RAZR
Atrix
Atrix 2
Admiral
Electrify
Droid X2
Photon
XPRT
Titanium
Triumph
DEFY+
CLIQ 2
Xoom
Xoom Family Edition
Droid XYBOARD 10.1
Droid XYBOARD 8.2

Now this list is in no way definitive, but it should give you an idea of the crazy incremental one upmanship Motorola has been betting on.

Jan

Would You Like A CyanogenMod App Store For Rooted Apps? The CM Crew Is Asking...

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Development, News

We have been pushed around for too long! The time has come to rebel against the iron fist of the carriers! Root users unite!

The Cyanogenmod Team is thinking about building an app store. "Ugh, another app store?" you say? Hold on a minute, there's some serious merit to this one. This is an app store for rooted apps. Rooted apps that the carriers hate and frequently remove from the Android Market.

Koush (CM dev, and creator of Rom Manager and other fun apps) lays out his list of grievances thusly: "Apps removed from the Market includes, one click root apps, emulators, tether apps, Visual Voicemail apps, and more.