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Sep

[Productivity Series] Four Little Apps That Will Make Using Your Android Device A Whole Lot Easier

Posted by Ron Hamelin in App Reviews, Applications, Reviews, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

Get that boss-key ready, because it’s time to kick off the first installment in Android Police’s productivity series! We’ve scoured the [sometimes murky] depths of the Android Market for those vital productivity boosting applications that can save you time, money, and hopefully, some sanity. We’re always looking for new apps to cover, so if you have any suggestions, drop us a line at tips@androidpolice.com

I’m always looking for ways to make using my Android device easier and faster. Well, I’ve discovered four apps in the Market that will do just that… and, best of all, they’re free.

In-App WiFi

This little app does exactly what it says: it allows you to turn WiFi on or off, no matter what you’re doing on your Android device.

Sep

Appcelerator & IDC's Q4 Mobile Developer Report: Android's Hitting Its Stride, Likely To Conquer Electronics Landscape

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

In June, Appcelerator surveyed 2,700 mobile developers and published the results in a report that we covered. The June report showed that developers prefer to develop for iOS, but that they had a more positive long-term outlook on Android; fast forward three months, and Android has widened its lead in long-term outlook. Further, developers see Android as being more capable, more open, and offering better support for multiple devices.

After running June's report, Appcelerator wanted to get a better look at the "why" behind the results as well as a more in-depth look at how developers view a wider range of devices.

Sep

Verizon To Jump On The Capped Mobile Data Plan Bandwagon

Posted by Brad Ganley in News, Verizon Wireless

It looks a lot like Verizon is going to follow in the much-criticized footsteps of AT&T and their tiered data plans, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. Before you scream "travesty!", consider this: Nielson (the company that analyzes everything so others don't have to) has reported that 99% of the 60,000 phone bills they had looked at would benefit from a tiered pricing structure.

The average monthly consumption of mobile data has risen from last year's 90MB up to 298MB this year. This is, obviously, nowhere even close to 5GB that some "unlimited" plans include but also takes non-smartphone users into account.

Sep

T-Mobile G2 Will Not Support Tethering At Launch, But T-Mobile May Add It Later

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Froyo 2.2, G2 (Vision), HTC, News, T-Mobile

While T-Mobile's G2 may support calling over WiFi, according to TmoNews, it won't support one of stock FroYo's best features: turning the phone into a portable WiFi hotspot.

T-Mobile's official statement on the matter?

“T-Mobile does not currently support handset tethering or offer a tethering rate plan. Though tethering and Wi-Fi sharing will not be initially supported on the T-Mobile G2, we know that consumers are interested in these features and we are working to develop a solution to support them in the future.”

A flawed explanation at best, especially since the Nexus One, which runs on T-Mobile's network (unless you've got the AT&T version of the phone), supports the WiFi hotspot feature.

Sep

Arabic Support Comes To FroYo, Google Looks On In Stunned Silence

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Froyo 2.2, News

Last Updated: September 27th, 2010

Update: As several commenters have pointed out, Android does support some right-to-left languages like Arabic out of the box, it just doesn't do so correctly. The method described below does.

Surprising as it may be that Android, which is now a major player in the mobile operating system game, does not ship with support for any right-to-left languages such as Arabic, Persian, or Urdu, there's no denying it; languages were never one of Android's strengths.

Well, at long last, it appears our beloved operating system is getting support for at least one of those three languages (Arabic), but, surprisingly enough, Google was not involved.

Sep

Leaked T-Mobile Slides Show Wi-Fi Calling On G2, More Phones In The Pipeline

Posted by Brian O'Toole in G2 (Vision), News, T-Mobile

Back in the good old days, before our fantasies were crushed by manufacturer-carrier partnerships and vested interests, we dreamt of being able to make calls over whatever medium we damn well pleased. T-Mobile fed that desire further, with “Hotspot Calling” in 2007, subsequently causing temper tantrums with levied surcharges in a way that now reminds us of Ma Bell and their ludicrous femtocells. It’s such a pity they never took it any furth-

… wait, what? TmoNews just got some leaked slides of plans to push WiFi Calling on select T-Mobile Android phones? You don’t say!

Yes folks, it’s another week and another coup by the ninjas at TmoNews.

Sep

Wirefly Launches T-Mobile G2 Preorders, Bests The Competition: $149.99, No Tax, Free Shipping

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in G2 (Vision), News, T-Mobile

Wirefly is notorious for its aggressive pricing when it comes to new phones, and we can't blame them: being an online-only seller, they need to offer something exciting to win customers over from the carriers themselves and other retail locations, such as Best Buy or Radioshack.

The T-Mobile G2 preorder deal that went live today is no exception - it beats out all competition:

$149.99 for new accounts ($199.99 for existing ones). Considering T-Mobile itself isn't even letting non-T-Mo customers preorder at all, this is a pretty damn good deal already. However, read on.
No tax - Wirefly.com doesn't charge tax, which makes this deal better than even Radioshack's $150 offer and is way under Best Buy's $200 price tag.

Sep

Sony Ericsson: No Plans For Any New Symbian Products, It’s All Yours Nokia

Posted by Brian O'Toole in News, Sony Ericsson

To the sound of a resounding “Meh”, Sony Ericsson have publically indicated that they have dropped Symbian off their roadmap for future handsets. Having been a member of the Symbian Foundation since its creation, Sony Ericsson are now jettisoning the aging platform for greener fields, leaving Nokia as the sole steward of the Symbian brand. According to spokesman Aldo Liguori:

“[Sony Ericsson] have no plans for the time being to develop any new products to the Symbian Foundation standard or operating system”

Funnily enough, Sony Ericsson are still part of the Symbian Foundation, they just don’t have any Symbian handsets planned.

Sep

Project Porting MeeGo OS To Android Phones Starting To Yield Results

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Development, Devices By Manufacturer, News

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

People like Android because they like openness and because they like choice. The ability to boot a second, open-source operating system on your Android device is then a pretty compelling proposition. Following a flurry of activity around various fora, some progress has been made in booting the Linux-based Maemo 5 successor, MeeGo, on select Android devices. These devices, namely the Nexus One, Streak, and Desire are all based on the Snapdragon QSD8250 and it is that chipset the development community is focusing on.

Credit: vgrade/M.Brook

Right now, it’s unclear exactly how functional the OS is, and, as usual, the development is suffering from issues with driver cross-compatibility and other similar obstacles.

Sep

Stefano Giovannoni's AlessiTab Cooks Up November Release Date (In Italy), €399 Price Tag

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Eclair 2.1, News

Last Updated: August 1st, 2012

Well, it looks like Motorola's updates to Android 2.1 Eclair updates aren't the only things leaving users hopelessly disappointed due to delays; Stefano Giovannoni's AlessiTab, which promises to be the ultimate kitchen device, has just been delayed from its scheduled release date of October to a vague point in November of this year. Worse still (at least for us who live in the United States), the home tablet will initially launch exclusively in Italy, and for the price of €399 (about $535), which is a full €99 more than what it was originally priced at. Still, with: