Ron Amadeo - 14/19 - 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.

Nov

Android.com Launches Slick New Redesign For Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by Ron Amadeo in News

Android.com is totally new. And awesome. And you should go look at it.

You'll be introduced to Android 4.0 and its new features (like you don't already know). You'll get some app recommendations, and be blow away by the web design. There's even a section extolling the virtues of Android development.

The homepage is especially awesome, the live wallpaper on the phone and tablet is interactive. Everything on the site has nice little swoopy animations and beautiful design. It's just fun to explore.

"Get Apps" is full of categorized app recommendations . The little "app buckets" animate left and right when you click on the arrows, and the apps jump out of the buckets when you click on them.

Nov

Google Music Support Is Rolling Out To The Android Market Now, No Update Necessary

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Applications, News

Google Music support was just announced for the Android Market. You can preview and buy music right on your phone! Right now you are probably asking "How can I get it?!"

Well, normally we would have an APK download for you, but this update is totally server side. Anyone running Market 3.3.11 is ready to use the Music Market. Google is it out to accounts right now. If it doesn't work for you, just have to wait. Sorry.

Mine did update though, So I might as well show you some screenshots.

It looks exactly like the market does now, the music section is just orange.

Nov

[Updated] "Magenta Saturday" Will Eventually Net You A Couple Hundred Dollars Off The Life Of A T-Mobile Smartphone Or Tablet

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Deals, News, T-Mobile

Update: Public Service Announcement: I'm an idiot. My sincere apologies to everyone. This post was totally wrong. I misread the PR and really had no idea an "Unlimited Value Plan" was special or cheaper.

So let's try this again.

T-Mobile is having a sale! "Magenta Saturday" is one day only, this Saturday, November 19th. You will save money, but it's complicated. Pay attention.

T-Mobile has two totally different sets of plans. There's "Classic Unlimited," which is a regular cell phone plan. You get a two year contract with a subsidized phone. Then there's the "Unlimited Value Plan" which is usually about $20 cheaper a month, but they don't subsidize your device.

Nov

Google Voice Update Brings Voicemail Prefetch, Group Messaging, and Improved Notifications

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Applications, News

Fresh Google Voice update! GV got bumped to 0.4.2.38, and some of the most requested features are finally hitting Google Voice. Let's get to it:

Voicemail Prefetch will automatically download your voicemails as soon as they are available, so you can listen to them when you have no data coverage.
Group Messaging will let you spam all your friends at once with the same message, just comma separate numbers or names in the "To:" box.
"Improved text message notification" - We really have no idea right now. Commenters?

If you're anything like me, you're probably asking "What does it look like on ICS?!" Well, this isn't the ICS-themed update every other app seems to be getting.

Nov

Cocktail Flow And Cocktail Flow Tablet Let You Get Your Drink On In Style

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Applications, News

How serious are you about your Cocktail consumption? For the pros out there, Cocktail Flow needs a spot on your phone/tablet.

So you want a cocktail, but you aren't sure what. This will let you search for a drink by bar stock, base alcohol, drink type, or color.

When you do find a drink you want, Cocktail Flow shows you all the ingredients and preparation needed to make the perfect cocktail. Best of all, it does this all in a beautiful style.

"Shopping" is a suggestion service focused on trying new cocktails. It looks at your current bar stock and suggest additional ingredients that will let you make the most new drinks.

Nov

[New App] ZeroPC Cloud Navigator HD For Tablets Puts All Your Cloud Storage Under One Roof

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Applications, News

ZeroPC is this crazy service that lets you access all the popular cloud services from one place. "All the popular cloud services" is shorthand for Box.net, Dropbox, Evernote, Facebook, Flickr, Google Docs, Instagram, Picasa and SugarSync. Yeah, everything.

The website is insane. They've whipped up an in-browser operating system. Imagine a Linux-based OS in your browser. That's exactly what the website looks like.

However, this is an Android blog, so we should probably focus on the freshly-released Android Tablet (only) app.

The website's operating system layout won't really fly on a tablet, so here the app looks like a file manager.

Nov

Tegra 3-Packing Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Gets The Hands-On Treatment

Posted by Ron Amadeo in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, News

Brace yourselves. The quad cores are coming.

Some lucky person got their hands on an Asus Transformer Prime, with a real life Nvidia Tegra 3 inside. For those who haven't heard, the Transformer is kind of a big deal. It's Asus' 2nd gen tablet/laptop hybrid (the base disconnects), and it looks to be the first ever Android device with a quad core processor.

^{The T-Prime, doing what all internet connected devices were meant to do: display pictures of cats.}

Naturally, the state of the art processor means this is a blazing fast device. The reviewer says the sound is pretty good too.

Nov

[New Game] OrangePixel's "INC" Is An 8-Bit Platform/Shooter for $2.75

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Games, News

Orange Pixel, creators of the well-received "Meganoid", just released a platform/shooter called "INC".

There are 40 levels of robot blasting action, and 8-bit styling and sound effects. It's sort of like Mega Man. The description claims "hard-but-fair gameplay," so there's retro difficulty to go along with those retro graphics. Xperia Play owners will be glad to hear that all their fancy buttons are supported (like you couldn't tell from the giant video thumbnail).

8-bit shooters don't really need a story, but just for good measure: "[In] The year 2135, the world is ruled by Corporations, humans are slowly being replaced by robots and machines, and the most powerful humans are now looking for ways to transfer their souls into robots, for eternal life." TL;DR: "Shoot things.

Nov

The Panasonic Toughpad A1: A Droppable, Everything Proof 10-Inch Tablet, Coming Spring 2012 For $1300; 7 Inch "B1" Version Coming Fall 2012

Posted by Ron Amadeo in News, Panasonic, Tablets

The makers of the darn-near invincible Toughbooks are taking on the tablet world. Today Panasonic announced the "Toughpad" family. There are 2 versions, the A1, a 10.1 incher; and the B1, a forthcoming 7 inch.

The A1 has a 10.1 inch, 4:3, XGA (1024x768), daylight viewable screen. It has capacitive touch and "offers" a stylus for handwriting recognition. The main feature though, is its ability to take your abuse. Get it wet, hot, cold, sandy, or drop it, and the Toughpad will keep on working. Your wallet is going to have to be pretty tough too, the 10 inch version will run you $1300 -- more than twice the price of a more delicate tablet.

Nov

[Getting To Know Android 4.0, Part 4] Calendar's New Suit

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0

Last Updated: August 10th, 2012

We're back with more Ice Cream deliciousness! I've exhausted most of the working Gapps, so we're down to the regular stuff in the emulator. Today we're looking at Calendar.

If you've just joined the series, we're taking a look at what Ice Cream Sandwich has to offer. Earlier we examined Gmail, Google Talk, and YouTube. The ICS screenshot are from the emulator, which gives a good approximation of what everything will look like, but has the occasional rendering issue.

We're all nice and upgraded to the latest system app leak: ICL23D. For those of you following this series, I can confirm there's been no meaningful changes to Gmail, Talk, or YouTube in ICL23D.