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Being an Android fan in Canada can be a mixed bag. While you may miss out on some of the sweet devices exclusive to U.S. carriers - the EVO 4G comes to mind - there's also the chance for some benefits, such as the recent July release of the international model of the Samsung Galaxy S II.
If the imminent announcement of ICS and the Galaxy Nexus isn't enough to sizzle your circuits, here's another little tidbit coming down from Mountain View. The date and location for Google I/O 2012 has been set in stone. 1 million or more developers, as well as journalists and lucky Google enthusiasts, will converge on Moscone Center West in San Francisco on April 24 and 25.
After just over a year of envious grumbling, the Canadians have finally gotten their first taste of LTE. Rogers Wireless announced today that true 4G speeds are available to customers in specific coverage areas in Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Vancouver.
That glut of quad-core awesomeness that Nvidia claimed was to begin this August didn't exactly happen. While this is a disappointment, it is clear that the second doubling of cores is on the not-so-distant horizon.
When you stop and think about it, an app that could capture what is happening on your phone's screen in high quality mp4 format would be pretty useful. With such an app you could show off a neat new live wallpaper, make an easy to follow tutorial, or do a solid video review of an app - all without having to use a dedicated camera. Wouldn't it be sweet if such a thing existed?
Rumors of Amazon's first foray into the tablet world seem to be solidifying. Today, BGR received a tip adding credibility to the potential "family" of devices that the online giant is supposedly prepping. While these devices remain squarely in the realm of rumor, the few details that can be gleaned are pretty juicy.
As promised, Playbox today brought the console racing experience to Tegra 2 devices with the release of Bang Bang Racing THD. This top-down racer, previously available on XBOX 360 and Playstation 3, is one of the soon to be numerous games optimized for multicore phones and tablets. With the added device power comes a level of physics that is yet unknown in mobile gaming.
It looks like truth may just mirror fiction. Either that or the Android Police team has some scary psychic powers (although some may call it intuition). According to Android And Me's latest rumor, Amazon is indeed set to dip their toes into the waters of the Android device market. Multiple tipsters within the industry have informed them that Amazon is working on an "entire family" of Android devices slates for a holiday 2011 arrival. It seems safe to say that "entire family" can be interpreted as a phone and a number of different sized tablets.
In the world of mobile phones, cases can be something of a contentious issue. There are those who insist that putting a case on anything so beautiful as a high-end Android phone is pure blasphemy, and anyone who does so is sullying the experience of owning high technology. Others recognize that they are walking around with $500 worth of slippery glass and plastic, opting to cover that shit up. Personally, I am on the fence. I alternate between the two options, revelling in the hard work of the designers at HTC on some days, and others I want to shake up the look and maybe get a little extra protection.
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer is quickly becoming the darling of the Android tablet world. With all the specs (dual-core, Android 3.0, keyboard dock - the list goes on) and a price tag at $400, this may just be the one Honeycomb tablet to rule them all. Alas, when a great product and a great price meet, there is great demand - and when there is great demand and a less-than-great supply level, there is a high level of dejected customers leaving their electronics retailers with empty hands.
It's no secret that the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T is largely unpopular in the Android community. T-Mobile was the first carrier to offer an Android phone and has been very supportive of the development community as of late. It would be a real shame to let an Android-friendly carrier fall under the control of a company that has the absolute worst track record in regards to Android devices, and mobile service in general.
Once again, we find that the selection of Android phones available to those in Canada is increasing both in size and quality. The next two additions to that ever-growing range of devices available in the Great White North are to be the Sony Ericsson Xperia PLAY and arc. According to a press release from Best Buy Canada, as of April 28th, these two great new handsets will be available on Rogers.
Motorola has had a dark past when it comes to bootloaders. Apart from a couple exceptions (most notably, the XOOM), all of the major Motorola devices have had locked bootloaders, and thus, Android customization enthusiasts have been shut out from such tweaks as custom kernels.
We Android fans love our input methods. Luckily there is no shortage of options, with keyboards ranging from the standard Gingerbread keyboard all the way to wacky ones such as 8Pen. Despite all the competition, and the fact that it isn't even available on the Android Market, Swype is one of the most popular custom keyboards around. It makes the tedious act of touchscreen typing that much smoother by letting users glide their thumb from letter to letter rather than tapping.
The word on the web today is that Google is in negotiations with Spotify, the European answer to Grooveshark, to partner up on Google's upcoming music streaming project. CNET's source claims that during talks with major record labels, Google did a bit of name dropping and announced that they were hoping to work with the popular European music streaming service, although nobody from either Google or Spotify was available to comment on that rumor.
Continuing with the trend of high-end Android devices getting speculative release dates, LG's 3D smartphone, the Optimus 3D, has been given a release date of June 6 by online UK retailer Clove. They say that the device should be on their shelves by that date, but gives the caveat that this information is "subject to change - but accurate at this time."
Sony Ericsson Indonesia has quietly announced to the world that they will be putting out the first Android-based Walkman device, the W8. This is by no means a power house, though, with a 600MHz processor, 168MB of RAM, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and a 3" 320x480 screen; clearly, this phone is aimed at the budget market.
I love Reddit. Like, alot. I also love Android. So naturally, I get pretty excited about new Reddit apps for Android. There are quite a few of them out there to choose from, ranging from full-on Reddit readers like Reddit is Fun, to purpose specific apps, like RedditTV or Reddit Pics. The holy grail of Reddit apps is a browsing app that has all of the functionalities of the web Reddit experience, while being easy to use and good looking.
Companies like YouTube and Grooveshark are at the center of the ongoing controversies around online distribution of copyrighted materials. This controversy reared its ugly head earlier this month when the Grooveshark app was removed from the Android Market. While this disappointed many of the users who stream all their favourite tunes without having to posses an actual digital copy, Google was justified in kicking these pseudo-pirates out of the Market, right? Not so, says Grooveshark.
When we talk about the Federal Communications Commission, we usually do so in regards to a new and highly anticipated device they have just finished testing. Today, there is a little something different in the news regarding the FCC. On Thursday, the FCC made a couple of moves that have received mixed responses from the major wireless carriers.