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Oct

Skype For Android Can Now Make Calls Over 3G In The US, No Thanks To Skype

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Development, News

This is really no big deal for Verizon users who have been able to do that since March but, thanks to some creative tweaking, the all-carrier version of Skype for Android can now make calls over 3G in the US. If you remember, the version distributed in the Market prompts you to enable WiFi in order to make calls to both Skype and regular phone numbers.

Xeudoxus (known for his work on Dark Edge) got a bit creative with the Skype apk and has released it to the on-the-go Skyping masses. If you're a Skype user who frequently makes phone calls via the service, this could potentially be a godsend.

Oct

HTCSense.com Goes Live

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Desire HD (Ace), Desire Z (Vision), News

Last night, @IncredibleDoes threw a shout out on Twitter to let the world know that HTCSense.com was now live.

While the selection of users and phones that can utilize the service right now is very (more like extremely) limited, it is still exciting to see this coming to fruition. There are devices both upcoming and already out that are slated to receive the new Sense, and it is nothing short of mind-blowing how much functionality they've added.

If you want to go and check it out, go for it. If you don't have a Desire Z or Desire HD, you won't get very far because even after you register, the site prompts you to sign in from your phone.

Oct

AppBrain App Updated Again, Adds Handful Of New (Awesome) Features

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, Games, News

Looks like the already-awesome AppBrain App Market app (yea, it's a little hard to wrap your head around that one) has been updated today, and now includes some pretty awesome new features:

Cloud to Device app uninstalls
Set wallpaper
Send URL to phone
Landscape mode
Dark theme

Cloud to device uninstalls are by far the big winner there - AppBrain already allowed some pretty awesome remote control over your phone's apps via your PC, and remote uninstall is a major addition to the existing feature set. Set wallpaper could also be handy - I'm personally not a big fan of how Android handles setting picture wallpapers - but I have yet to test it.

Oct

[Quick Hands-On] Sony Releases Crackle For Android: Stream TV & Movies To Your Android Device

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Sony's Crackle app has landed in the Android Market, and brings streaming of original shorts, TV shows, and movies to Android. The app is free, but requires a premium subscription to view TV shows and movies. At $5/month, the premium content isn't necessarily expensive, but after quickly running through the app, I'd have to say it's probably not worth it unless you're pretty desperate.

A word on the app itself: it's small, installs quickly, and runs smoothly. I still think it's lame that there's no better solution to purchasing the premium content than paying as though it were a separate app, but that's not really Sony's fault I suppose.

Oct

Lifehacker: Easy Ways To Sync Things Between Your PC & Android Device

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News

Yesterday morning, Lifehacker published an article titled "How to Break Down the Barrier Between Your Android and Computer," and it's well worth a look for any Android power user. The article is broken into three sections: Two-Way (Android <-> Desktop) and One-Way (Desktop -> Android) and (Android -> Desktop).

In the interest of not stealing their thunder, I'm not going to tell you what apps they suggest and why, but I will tell you what types of apps they cover:

Two-way

Files
Small data/notes
Reading material

One-way (Desktop -> Android)

Remote control/screen viewing
App sync/installation
Web pages, maps, and text
Files
iTunes

One-way (Android -> Desktop)

Phone activity (SMS/calls/etc)
Web pages
Files

Be sure to hit up the source link to check out their app suggestions!

Oct

Source Code Released For Desire MR-2.6.32 Kernel

Posted by Brad Ganley in Desire (Bravo/BravoC), News

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

If you are unfamiliar with rooting or ROMs, you can check out our primers here, because we're going to talk about it:

User lalexi over at xda-developers just posted a link to HTC's official release of the Desire's kernel source code. This is very good news for the development community because, as it stands, developers have to simply patch bugs that occur when trying to overclock the processor and getting things to work, sometimes incompletely, trial-and-error style. They are all fixed in this source code and now all that's left is for the developers to focus on adding functionality rather than fixing broken functionality.

Oct

Re-Map The Buttons On EVO's HTC Sense To Make Them Do Your Bidding

Posted by Brad Ganley in Development, News

There is talk of rooting in this post. If you have no idea what that is or why you should do it, check out our primer: Rooting Explained And The Top Benefits

xda-developers forum member JsChiSurf has figured something out that I've been longing for since the day I went out and bought my shiny new HTC EVO 4G: how to change the buttons on the bottom of the HTC Sense homescreen. It never made sense (no pun intended) to me that the phone button be huge and in the center or that the "Add" button to even be wasting space on the launcher and, evidently, he shares that sentiment with me.

Oct

T-Mobile Introduces The LG Optimus T: Android Babysteps

Posted by Adam Litke in Carriers, Froyo 2.2, LG, News, Optimus T, T-Mobile

Last Updated: November 3rd, 2010

Although the name may be reminiscent of Optimus Prime, this phone might not live up to the most powerful Autobot. Think of the Optimus T as an Android feature phone with the stats of a mid-range device.

It comes packed with the following specs:

Android 2.2 FroYo
3.2 inch capacitive touchscreen
3.2MP Camera (no Flash - what is this, 2005?)
Wifi (includes Mobile Hotspot Option)
GPS
Bluetooth

The Optimus T appears to be the exact opposite of what most people are expecting to see from handset manufacturers: a starter phone. Most of you who are reading this blog are probably hoping to see the latest and greatest in Android handsets, but LG is aiming at the users who are on the fence about Android.

Oct

Android Goes Cheap - LG Optimus S ($49), Sanyo Zio ($99), And Samsung Transform ($149) Officially Headed To Sprint, Feature New Sprint ID Service

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Kyocera, LG, Optimus S, Samsung, Sanyo, Sprint, Transform, Zio M6000

Last Updated: November 7th, 2010

If anyone needed any more evidence that Android wasn't created exclusively for us power users who insist on having the latest and greatest, Sprint's latest announcements should be enough to convince even the most doubtful - the nation's third largest carrier just announced three new Android budget Android devices: the LG Optimus S, the Sanyo Zio, and the Samsung Transform. The first of those three devices will go on sale starting October 31, while the latter two will be available from October 10 forward.

The LG Optimus S is the cheapest of the bunch, costing a mere $49, although I'm sure WireFly will be carrying it for free before too long.

Oct

[Hump Day Lollerskates] Samsung Galaxy Tab Shipping With Porn Button In Romania

Posted by Brad Ganley in Galaxy Tab, News, Off-Topic

In a hilarious display of linguistic differences, the Romanian Samsung Galaxy Tab will ship with an app drawer that looks like this:

If this doesn't make you want a Galaxy Tab, I don't know what will.

In all seriousness, though, the Romanian word for "Start" is "Pornire" and, apparently, gets abbreviated as "Porn" quite regularly. I guess that makes sense, but it's still pretty entertaining in my book. I'm not sure how Samsung is going to feel about it in the long run but,for now, we can get some laughs at the language barrier's expense.

Here's a video of the Romanian Galaxy Tab's porn button in action, if you're interested: