Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

Google's Human Body Browser Is Now Available (Again) For Honeycomb Devices

Posted by Zak Stinson in Applications, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Google Body, the Google Earth-style anatomy app announced at February's Honeycomb event, has finally hit the market. After spending the month as a web app, owners of a shiny new Honeycomb tablet can glide through skin, muscle, bone, organs, veins and nerves with the swipe of a finger.

Note: Yesterday, Google published Google Body and then almost immediately pulled it for an unknown reason before we even got a chance to announce it. Today, it seems like the app is finally available again.

Those lucky ones of you who get to play with the app may notice there is only a rendering of the female anatomy for perusing.

Mar

Updated: DroidDream Is Bad - But We Think We Found Something Even Worse (Maybe)

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Update: After having a back and forth with Android Security, there's some disagreement as to just how malicious these apps we linked in this post are. We may have jumped the gun here, so hold tight, and we'll keep you informed.

First off, no, we're not trying to be sensationalist. And I'll admit up front that we're a bit light on details at the moment, but we've got a guy who is a professional, seasoned coder, and that's not the type of guy whose opinion you ignore. With that said: yes, we really think that we found something worse.

Among the flood of (mostly) related security/piracy tips we received in the wake of the DroidDream discovery was something that was worth a closer look: two more developers who were putting up more stolen apps.

Mar

Today's iPad 2 News Could Shake Up Tablet Prices - But Not For The Reasons You Think

Posted by Will Shanklin in Android OS, Editorials, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

While we at Android Police don't exactly wait with bated breath to hear what Steve Jobs has to say at Apple announcements like the one for the iPad 2 today, we would be fooling ourselves to pretend that Apple products don't directly affect the market for Android devices. While an Android fan's first reaction to the latest iAnnouncement is often to (understandably) bash the smooth-talking fruit company from Cupertino, I believe that today's events could shake up the tablet market for the better.

The hardware of the iPad 2 is hardly a game-changer. They didn't upgrade their display from the first generation iPad (which always looked a little bit pixelated to me), though they did make it thinner and lighter.

Mar

Sprint Has Something Up Its Sleeve For March 22

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, Rumors, Sprint

It appears that Sprint will be unveiling something for us in Orlando, FL on March 22, as they have issued media invitations for an event that will be "showcasing the latest innovations from Sprint."

What exactly will be showcased is a mystery at this point, but the last time we were invited to an exciting event from Sprint, it was to preview the dual-screen Kyocera Echo phone (which some viewed as a dud of an announcement). Perhaps the wireless carrier is poised to deliver the knockout punch that many were hoping for last month with this one, but that is all speculation at this point.

Mar

Marketplace Coming Soon To A Google TV Near You

Posted by Josue Alamo in Google TV, News

We now have yet another reason to rot in front of our televisions: Google will be expanding their Market to include its experimental television platform, Google TV. Ashish Arora, Product Manager of Google TV at Logtitech, broke the news at OTTCon on Tuesday.

“It will happen shortly.” said Arora during a panel discussion. “It’s a given that it will happen this year, 100 percent. We’re talking about a very short term.” Arora hopes the Market will bring about some ambitious ideas into its television sets. "It won't just be weather apps," he said. "What will be really interesting will be to tie the content to what you're watching." Cisco has begun to experiment with such tie-ins, toying with the ability to “live tweet” during broadcasts.

Mar

Wi-Fi XOOM Pre-Orders Now Live in UK: Available Next Month

Posted by Will Shanklin in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, XOOM

Following an eerie silence regarding the Wi-Fi-only version of the Motorola XOOM after the launch of the Verizon model last week, we heard that it would (at some point) sell for £449.9 in the UK. How quickly things change: it now appears, in a new listing on PC World, that the price has been jacked up to £499.99. Pre-orders are now a go at the UK site, and they promise an availability date of "the first week of April."

Only UK customers can reserve their XOOM now, as we attempted to order from the US, and under the country code option, the only possible entry was "United Kingdom" (no surprise there).

Mar

[Update: Plug The Hole Yourself] Malware Monster: DroidDream Is An Android Nightmare, And We've Got More Details

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Last Updated: March 6th, 2011

Update: Google has officially acknowledged DroidDream and is taking further steps to correct it. Details can be found here: Google Acknowledges DroidDream: Remotely Wiping Apps, Removing Exploit, Making Changes To Prevent It From Happening Again.

Wow - from our perspective, it's almost like the world exploded overnight. We have more information and details on the virus - which Lookout has named "DroidDream" (the word was consistently used in package names by the malware developers) - and some updates on where things stand.

First, we're absolutely amazed at how quickly Google reacted. As mentioned last night, our own Justin Case pinged a contact and the apps were pulled from the market within minutes.

Mar

The Mother Of All Android Malware Has Arrived: Stolen Apps Released To The Market That Root Your Phone, Steal Your Data, And Open Backdoor

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News

Last Updated: March 6th, 2011

Update 2: Google has officially acknowledged DroidDream and is taking further steps to correct it. Details can be found here: Google Acknowledges DroidDream: Remotely Wiping Apps, Removing Exploit, Making Changes To Prevent It From Happening Again

Update: For more details on DroidDream, check out out the follow-up post. It includes more information about the virus and how it works, who's to blame, and provides a link to a flashable .ZIP that prevents the virus from working.

Openness - the very characteristic of Android that makes us love it - is a double-edged sword. Redditor lompolo has stumbled upon a perfect example of that fact; he's noticed that a publisher has taken "...

Mar

45 Best (And 2 WTF) New Android Apps, Games, And Live Wallpapers From Last Week (2/22/11 - 3/1/11)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, Games, News

Last Updated: June 28th, 2011

Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Market or were spotted by us in the previous week or so.

Please wait for this page to load in full in order to see the AppBrain widgets, which include ratings and pricing info.

Looking for the previous week's roundup? Find it here: 30 Best (And 2 WTF) New Android Apps, Games, And Live Wallpapers From Last Week (2/16/11 – 2/21/11)