01
May
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Automagic attempts to be Tasker, only easier to use. The problem is that Tasker is already pretty straightforward, and while Automagic makes certain things easier, it makes others more difficult. Still, a little competition never hurt anyone, and there are many ways Automagic challenges Tasker to step up its game.

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What it Does

The premise behind Automagic is nothing new. It is an app that automates tasks based on a wide range of variables. For example, you can tell Automagic to turn off auto-brightness when your phone's battery dips below 50%. If you don't want to receive any distractions while you're at your sweetheart's house, you can automagically set your phone to airplane mode when you're within 200 meters of their address.

01
May
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WeatherBug has been a big name in online weather forecasting for a number of years, and it was one of the first full-featured weather apps on Android. The problem, however, is that the app looked like it was designed by inebriated orangutans. Well, no more. The WeatherBug app has been updated with new features and a streamlined (not ugly) UI.

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The new app has Holo-style tabs up top along with a drop-down for your locations. It also uses the left side slide-out menu system many apps are implementing these days. It still does all the usual weather app things like updating the current conditions, multi-day forecasts, and animated radar maps.

01
May
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I may be an unabashed lover of quality audio, but the sheer "d'awww" factor of this bugdroid portable speaker is enough to contemplate reaching for my credit card right now. This isn't a new product, but it normally costs $30, and it's just $20 right now at Best Buy's website (free shipping).

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It manages 8 watts of peak output, stows an 850mAh lithium ion battery that can be used for up to 6 hours of maximum volume playback, and has a retractable 3.5mm stereo cable (no Bluetooth, sorry). And surprisingly, the reviews for it on Amazon (where it costs $30) are outstanding - 4.5 stars with 182 reviews at the time of this writing.

01
May
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Another day, another set of app sales - today's items all fall squarely in the "games" category (for the moment), but they're a few relatively good one. Read on for the list. Head over to yesterday's post for even more awesome deals (including the Metal Slug ports, a must-buy in my opinion).

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We'll update this post if we stumble across any more noteworthy discounts today.

01
May
PantechBreakout123

Hey Pantech Breakout owners - your phone's about to be a little less Verizon-heavy, a la an otherwise small OTA update that should be headed out to your device in the next week or two. Software version CA66.F.BB removes VZW Apps, Verizon Video, Rhapsody, and Blockbuster from your device, mostly because they're all totally useless! There's an Android security patch bundled in here, too, and an update low memory notification string. OK.

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As I said before, you can expect the update to roll out, most likely, in the next week or two.

Verizon Support

01
May
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It was only yesterday that Cyanogen definitively confirmed AT&T's treacherous move to lock down the Galaxy S4's bootloader, but there is light at the end of that tunnel. No thanks to AT&T but to security researcher extraordinaire and a person I admire Dan Rosenberg, a.k.a. the magician, a.k.a. the root whisperer.

Dan, who is responsible for numerous root and unlock exploits, tweeted this photo of his Galaxy S4 earlier today:

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There are no instructions or blog posts explaining the unlock at Dan's blog yet - these should be coming in the future. When, you might ask? This part is not decided just yet, for a good reason (put down your pitchforks).

01
May
servers

If you have a spare Android device lying around and want to get some added functionality out of it, turning into a server is a practical and potentially useful way to give it new life. While there are several ways to go about that, Servers Ultimate is a tool that delivers more than 36 servers and 40 different protocols all in a single app to make the task easier. And as of the most recent update, it added a slew of network tools and additional servers to the mix. Here's a look at the new additions:

New Servers:

- PHP + Lighttpd Server
- MySQL Server
- Remote Control App Server
- TFTP Server
- FTP Proxy Server
- Syslog Server
- Styx Server
- Stomp Server
- NFS Server
- iSCSI Server
- DHCP Server
- Trigger Server
- Rsync Server
- Git Server
- NTP Server

New network tools:

- IP Calculator (IPv4 and IPv6)
- Whois
- Raw socket (TCP and UDP)
- Command line
- Ping
- Network speed
- HTTP Headers
- Wake on LAN
- Lookup (mac to vendor, ip to host, host to ip, DNS)
- Traceroute
- MySQL Monitor
- Remote control app client
- Fast port scanner
- Check connectability

Additional functionality:

- Import / Export servers
- Tasker and Llama support
- Help files
- Use cronjob rules to start/stop/switch servers
- Log to a file
- Password protect the app
- Use the remote control client to add/edit/start/stop/etc servers remotely
- Allow to run servers on ports below 1024 on rooted devices
- Now a server can be run on a specific network interface or all network interfaces
- The backlog can be set for most servers
- Added support for notifications when a server is started/stopped (email, sms, etc)
- Added support for IPv6
- Fixed a lot of bugs
- Added a lot of small improvements to different servers

Aside from the additional functionality, tools, and new servers in this version, it has also been completely redesigned to offer Holo UI in both dark and light – simply head into the settings menu to toggle between the two.

01
May
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It's the first of May, and you all know what that means: free access to the MLB At Bat app for T-Mobile subscribers starts today! Tmo's multi-year contract with Major League Baseball gives its customers free access to the video and audio streaming app. Normally the app and the service are part of the expensive MLB.tv game streaming package, or a separate purchase of $3 a month or $20 a year.

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There are some surprisingly strict terms. Naturally you'll need an active T-Mobile account to qualify, and you have to download the MLB At Bat app between now and June 30th.

01
May
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Last Updated: May 13th, 2013

There are plenty of apps in Google Play these days, but a relatively small proportion are designed to unlock the power of a rooted device. Since it can be easy for these powerful apps to get obscured by the crush of retro, free-to-play, side-scrolling platformer games, we like to aggregate the best root-only apps on occasion. Whether you want to free up some screen real estate, change icons around, or manage your backups, the apps you need are right here.

01
May
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Does the HTC One leave you cold, T-Mobile customer? Tired of all the plastic on Galaxies big and small? Then look at this filing in the Federal Communication Commission's ever-expanding database of certified wireless devices. It's the Xperia Z, Sony's current flagship model, with wireless bands for T-Mobile's standard HSPA+ network and its shiny new LTE spectrum as well. That makes the stylish smartphone as close to a done deal as we're likely to get until T-Mobile starts its press campaign.

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Still not convinced? An FCC filing doesn't mean a device will actually appear on American shores, but that's usually only true for international models (sometimes erroneously referred to as having "AT&T bands").