Ron Amadeo - 8/19 - 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.

Sep

Stock Android Isn't Perfect: These Are The Things I Can't Stand About Jelly Bean

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Jelly Bean 4.1, Stock Android Isn't Perfect

Last Updated: January 25th, 2013

In my reviews, I frequently abuse and pick apart TouchWiz, Sense, and MotoBlur. I point out flaws, say "that's stupid," and wonder what the heck was going on when someone approved whatever half-baked change they've come up with. A lot of the UIs shipping on phones today are bad.

But it's not just the 3rd-party skins. Stock Android isn't perfect either, and that's what we're here to talk about today. Jelly Bean has all sorts of confusing user interfaces, weird bugs, things that don't make any sense, and things that desperately need polishing.

I criticize because I care - that goes for Sense, TouchWiz, and MotoBlur too.

Sep

A History of Pre-Cupcake Android Codenames

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Android OS, News

You know the Android codenames, right? Starting with Android 1.5, they're alphabetical snacks - Cupcake, Donut, Éclair, Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich, and Jelly Bean. But what about before 1.5? What were those called? And why did they start with C? We've got real answers from real Googlers.

Wikipedia's Android Version History is a pretty awesome article, but, as of a few days ago, it was erroneously calling 1.0 and 1.1 "Astro" and "Bender." We had never heard of this, and there wasn't a good source attached to it, so we took to G+ to set the record straight.

Sep

Motorola DROID RAZR M Review: This Is What Budget Phones Are Like Now? Where Do I Sign Up?

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Motorola, News, RAZR M, Reviews

Last Updated: September 15th, 2012

"The new Motorola starts today." That was new CEO Dennis Woodside's proclamation during the unveiling of the new RAZRs, and I think that statement gives away a little more than intended. Smartphone development takes the good part of a year, so they're implicitly admitting that these phones were made by someone else. That "someone else" being the old Motorola.

Yes, Google's deal to buy Motorola was announced a little over a year ago, but, thanks to all the regulatory bodies around the world that had to approve the deal, Google has only been in charge of Motorola for about three months.

Sep

Initial Impressions Of The (International) Samsung Galaxy Note II

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Galaxy Note II, Samsung

So, the other day, in New York, Samsung gathered up a bunch of bloggers and showed us the international Galaxy Note 2. They wouldn't tell us anything about their North American plans, only that the international version would be pretty close to the NA version, and that they'd be sending out NA review units soon. So, while we're waiting for the real one to get here, we thought it'd be fun to take a quick look at the international version.

The Note II is a crazy piece of hardware - just holding it is an experience. It has to be the biggest screen ever released on a phone.

Sep

Hands On With The New DROID RAZR Family

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Motorola, News, RAZR HD / RAZR MAXX HD, Verizon Wireless

I just got back from New York, the city of absolutely no internet, and now I can finally tell you about my experiences with the new RAZRs - the DROID RAZR HD 4G LTE, DROID RAZR HD MAXX 4G LTE, and DROID RAZR M 4G LTE. (My shift key is going to get a workout today!)

The design and construction of all 3 phones is basically the same. A stitched Kevlar back with a rubber coating, a plastic body, and an industrial-style design with exposed, prominent screws. Just imagine an original DROID RAZR MAXX with screws embedded in it and you are most of the way there.

Aug

Bloomberg: Motorola Will Release A Phone With No Bezel By The End Of The Year

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Motorola, Rumors, Verizon Wireless

Ok... Hot report out of Bloomberg, just now, that Motorola will be releasing a phone with no bezel. None. I'm having just as hard of a time believing this as you are.

It's Bloomberg though - they're reliable. They can't be wrong, right? They say the phone "uses the entire front of the device as a display," and "maximizes the screen viewing space by eliminating the black frames or bezels around the display." Several times they use the phrase "edge-to-edge" screen.

The author's twitter page promotes the story with the phrase "sans bezel." He also reported it on video and described the phone as "all screen" and said it will "do away with the little bits of screen that aren't screen." They really are claiming this thing has no bezel.

Aug

Getting To Know Android 4.1, Part 5: Calendar and Settings

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: August 29th, 2012

We're back! If you are somehow just joining us, where have you been? This is Getting To Know Android, the series where we milk every little detail out of the latest version of Android and put other change logs to shame.

Expect this version to be heavy on the pictures because, honestly, we're getting down to the bottom of the barrel here. There won't be much left to cover after this. To make up for the sparse commentary, we're getting a two-for-one deal this week: Calendar and Settings!

The usual formatting applies, ICS is on the left, Jelly Bean is on the right.

Aug

Archos 101 XS Review: Too Many Compromises In A Suddenly Competitive Budget Market

Posted by Ron Amadeo in 101 XS, ARCHOS, Reviews, Tablet Reviews, Tablets

"Unique" is the name of the game with the Archos 101 XS. Just about every design decision goes against the status quo. Most tablets are made out of aluminum or plastic, but Archos went with stainless steel and a plastic rim. It's a tablet-laptop hybrid, but there's no hinge, everything is held together with a kickstand and some magnets. The included keyboard dock also doubles as a magnetic cover. At a time when some Android OEMs are ~~accused~~ found guilty of doing little more than firing up a photocopier, some out-of-the-box thinking is very much appreciated.

It's only $400 for the tablet and keyboard, so we're firmly in budget territory here.

Aug

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 Review: An Embarrassing, Lazy, Arrogant Money Grab

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Galaxy Note 10.1 (GT-N8000 / N8010 / N8013), News, Reviews, Samsung, Tablet Reviews

A little over a year ago, before I was hired at AP, I wrote about the things I wanted my new Honeycomb tablet to be able to do in the next version of Android. Multitasking on tablets was (and still is) non-existent, and I wanted my tablet to be less of a big phone, and more of a small computer. I wanted split screen, and floating apps, and really, I wanted to just make use of this nice, big screen I had. One task at a time isn't good enough. The big difference between a tablet and a phone should be the ability to multitask.

Aug

Getting To Know Android 4.1, Part 4: Miscellaneous Stuff, The New Default App Picker, And Insight From A Googler!

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Jelly Bean 4.1, News

Last Updated: October 14th, 2012

GTKA is back! For those that don't know, this is the series where we compare the new version of Android to the previous one, in excruciating detail. I'm going to dub this the "Miscellaneous edition," because there is a bunch of new things I want to talk about, but they don't really fit into a nice, organized category. (This doesn't mean I'm running out of things to talk about, not by a long shot.) The usual GTKA style applies, Ice Cream Sandwich is on the left, Jelly Bean is on the right. Let's get to it: