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Apr

Download: HTC Sensation/Pyramid Wallpapers

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid)

This morning, an HTC Sensation ROM featuring Sense 3.0 got leaked online, and while we're waiting for it to be ported to various devices, I thought it'd be a good idea to download it and see if it has any new wallpapers, ringtones, or notification sounds. While I was a bit disappointed on the audio front (both notifications and ringtones don't contain anything new), most of the wallpapers were indeed brand new, except maybe bokeh (I ran them through TinEye's reverse image search).

Have a look at the wallpapers below and download them from our mirror if you like what you see.

Apr

[Updated] Exclusive: Vulnerability In Skype For Android Is Exposing Your Name, Phone Number, Chat Logs, And A Lot More

Posted by Justin Case in Development, Exclusives, News

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

Update #1: Skype is investigating the issue, we've been told.

Update #2: Skype's official first response can be found here.

The safety of our personal information is often a concern of mine - who has my email address, my phone number, my date of birth? How can I keep my private information safe while still enjoying the internet? These concerns have prompted me to take a deeper look at Android apps more than once, and often this can yield some frightening information.

On April 11, a leaked version of Skype Video hit the web and, having a Thunderbolt, I had to try it.

Apr

Samsung Droid Charge's Price Tag Shows Up - Sit Down Before You Read It

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Charge (i510), News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Are you sitting down? Assuming you're reading this on your PC, I would imagine that you are. Unless, of course, you have a standing desk, in which case I urge you to sit down. We've seen it pop up on the web but haven't really heard anything about its price. This time, however, it looks like it made an in-store appearance at Walmart and brought a price tag along with it. Are you ready for this? $298.88 with a two-year agreement. No, that's not a typo.

Releasing a phone that's already somewhat behind the curve at this price is just ridiculous.

Apr

Best Buy Hearts Mobile, Plans Massive Expansion Of Mobile Brand With 600-800 New Stores Over The Next 5 Years

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Carriers, Deals, Devices By Manufacturer, News

For those who have been paying attention, it's pretty clear that the mobile space is exploding, thanks largely to the rapid adoption of Android, iPhone, and, to a lesser extent, Windows Phone 7 devices. With that in mind, it should come as no surprise that Best Buy is planning to expand their stand-alone Best Buy Mobile brand by 600-800 locations over the next five years.

Best Buy's been a fairly major player in the Android space, often offering phones at a steeper discount than the carriers in order to attract new customers. That strategy seems to be working, so keep an eye out for a Best Buy Mobile springing up in a mall near you.

Apr

HTC Sensation (Pyramid) Test ROM Leaks, Includes Sense UI 3.0

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Development, HTC, News, Sensation / Sensation 4G (Pyramid)

I know that everyone loves leaks, so here is a good one for all of the devs out there, especially ones that are looking to port Sense 3.0 to devices that HTC says won't get it (at least not all of it anyway). A test ROM for the HTC Sensation (yes, the one we just told you about on earlier this week, also known as the Pyramid) has publically leaked with all goodies, including Sense 3.0, intact.

So there you go Thunderbolt, Inspire, Desire, and all other HTC handset owners - hopefully the full blown Sense 3.0 interface will end up coming your way shortly.

Apr

[Editorial] Will Amazon Create A New Walled Garden Out Of Android?

Posted by Jared Spurbeck in Android OS, Editorials

Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A major national bookseller decides that they want to make "The Reader’s Tablet." So they grab the Android source code, and they don’t bother to get their device approved by Google so that it can run their apps. Instead, they charge full speed ahead, with not just a custom UI layer but a complete reimagining of what an “Android” device should look like.

The app drawer? Gone. Pull-down notification area? Canned. Hardware keys have gone the way of the dustbin, except for a single iPad-style button. Even the concept of the home screen has been done away with, to be replaced with a bookshelf and a store.

Apr

Amazon Pulls A "Me Too!", Selling Viewsonic gTablet For $280 Today

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Deals, gTablet (SMB-A1002), Viewsonic

Some of you may remember that daily deal site Woot marked the Viewsonic gTablet down to just $280 (twice). Amazon (Woot's parent company) has decided they'd like to do the same, so for the third time in just a few weeks, you can score the dual-core, Tegra2-rockin' tablet for only $280. Although it's sold through Amazon, the order is fulfilled by Woot.

Need a refresher on the specs? No worries, I can totally play it lazy and copy-paste what we've said before:

The very hackable ViewSonic gTablet... sports a speedy dual-core 1GHz Tegra 2 CPU, a 10.1" 1024×600 TFT display, a front-facing camera, 512MB RAM, 16GB ROM, and USB host capabilities...

Apr

Relax, Older HTC Phones Will See Sense 3.0 ... Sort Of

Posted by Cameron Summerson in HTC, Incredible 2 (Vivow), News, Thunderbolt (Mecha)

We first showed you HTC's 3.0 version of Sense UI earlier this week, and the next logical question from a lot of people was "when am I getting this?" Well, one man went straight to HTC via Twitter with that same question in mind and the response he got back was not exactly what anyone had hoped to hear: never.

Before you get too upset, a little clarification is in order. Initially, it was thought that only the devices mentioned in the above Tweet would end up with the new UI, leaving behind the newly released Thunderbolt, Inspire, and the yet-to-arrive Incredible 2.

Apr

NVIDIA Sets The Record Straight: "We Will Support All Tegra Devices As Long As Their Manufacturers Do"

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Adam, Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, gTablet (SMB-A1002), Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Iconia Tab A500, News, Notion Ink, ViewPad 7, Viewsonic

Last Updated: April 29th, 2011

There has been a lot of confusion regarding this post on NVIDIA's Tegra developer forum that was misconstrued as vaguely implying NVIDIA would stop supporting the "Harmony" generation of Tegra devices going forward (ViewSonic gTablet, Notion Ink Adam, ViewSonic ViewPad 7, Advent Vega, and others) and would instead only stick to the "Ventana" generation. Rather than panicking and freaking out, we pinged our contact at NVIDIA to get a straight answer and held off until we heard the official response.

To clear up the air right off the bat - the issue was blown way out of proportion and in no way pertains to actual production devices.

Apr

Motorola Working On Ruggedized Android Tablet, Presumably For Rugged Individuals

Posted by David Ruddock in Gingerbread 2.3, Motorola, News, Rumors

From today's "probably should have seen it coming" pile, Engadget has come into possession of what looks like a presentation slide for a ruggedized Android tablet being developed by Motorola:

I know, the text is illegible, so here are the main points to take home:

7" capacitive LCD
1GHz dual-core TI OMAP processor
1GB RAM, 8GB NAND onboard storage
Android 2.3 Gingerbread
8MP rear camera, 1.3MP front camera
Stylus for signature capture
Removable battery good for 5.5 hours of video
Can withstand 4' drop onto plywood (oak, cherry, ash, maple certifications pending)
Works in temperatures of 0-50 degrees Celsius
Tons of enterprise-friendly security
Fingerprint scanner

This device is clearly targeted towards business, and probably specifically towards businesses with employees out in the field, where the tablet's ruggedized nature will protect it from the harsh, plywood-filled world.