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Mar

[Video] New HTC Flyer Hands-on Shows Stylus' "Palm Rejection" In Action

Posted by Will Shanklin in Flyer, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Videos

HTC took some flak by some during Mobile World Conference for showcasing a 7", single core, Gingerbread running tablet while all the other big dogs were fighting over who has the best 10", dual-core, Honeycomb-running monster. With the tablet market looking more and more like it will soon be the iPad 2 vs. three nearly identical Android competitors, I find HTC's decision to go in an entirely different direction refreshing and was therefore curious about Carrypad's recent hands-on with the slate.

One aspect of the stylus technology that was spotlighted in the site's hands-on was "palm rejection," which is the ability of the touchscreen to not react to one's hand while scribbling away with a stylus.

Mar

Samsung Reconsidering Galaxy Tab 10.1 Details In Light Of iPad 2

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Galaxy Tab 10.1, News

You'll find no Apple lovers around the Android Police offices, but even we have to admit that there's no excuse for Apple showing up the Android tablet scene's pricing. Unfortunately, that's exactly what's happened. With that in mind, it's perhaps not so surprising to hear that Samsung is re-evaluating their upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1.

Aside from the likely price drop we'll see, they're also taking a critical eye to the physical characteristics of their tablet - specifically, they don't think it's thin enough to compete with the 8.8mm-thick iPad 2.

We've said it many, many times before: Apple products aren't for us, but that doesn't mean they don't manage to do some things right.

Mar

Only 0.3% Of The Global Population Owns A Tablet - But There Are Over 5 Billion Mobile Subscribers

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News, Off-Topic

RBC Capital Markets analyst Mike Abramsky has run the numbers on tablets and lined them up for comparison against a bevy of other figures. Surprisingly, there are 5.113 billion mobile subscribers in the world (out of 6.898bn global population), but only 394 million smartphone and tablet users.

Abramsky's calculations show that there will be more than 400m tablet users by 2014. Equally as impressive is that he thinks 185m tablets will be sold in 2014 - or 47% of the number of smartphones and tablet owners today.

It's a bit surprising that the number of smartphone and tablet users is so low, but then again, that just speaks to the massive upside potential of the market.

Mar

Missed The 25% Off XOOM Deal? Hurry And Save $100 From Motorola Now

Posted by Will Shanklin in Deals, News, XOOM

If you are frustrated that you missed the (accidental) $200 off coupon that Motorola temporarily honored for XOOMs last week, we now have something half as good. A coupon code for $100 off ($700 total) is now available to be used at the Motorola online store.

What's that? Stop yakking and tell you how to use it? Okay:

Head over to the Motorola store at this link
Add the XOOM to your cart and begin checkout
When prompted, enter coupon code motoxoom
Wait for your shiny new XOOM to show up in the mail

There's no indication how long this deal will last, so if you're interested, you might want to scoop it up quickly.

Mar

Paypal Wants Developers To Come On Down For App Challenge

Posted by Will Shanklin in News

In an attempt to generate extra buzz for using their payment system in Android apps, Paypal has started a contest for developers with a grand prize of $25,000.

Remaining vague in the competition's criteria, the eBay-owned company simply asks devs to integrate secure payments into their Android apps, adding that they would like "something new, something surprising, something with business potential." In addition to the $25K grand prize, the runner up will receive $15,000, followed by $10,000 for third place (much more generous than the kitchen appliances they give you on Wheel of Fortune).

Paypal lists some "important deadlines" for anyone interested in entering:

May 14 – Deadline to submit your application for approval
June 3rd – Deadline for making changes
June 7th – Application live in an Android Marketplace
June 29th – Winners announced

May the best secure payment system in a mobile application win.

Mar

WiFi-only Motorola XOOM Headed to Sam’s Club, Possibly Priced at $539 - Droid Life- A Droid Community Blog

Wi-Fi-Only Motorola XOOM To Cost $539 At Sam's Club?

Posted by Will Shanklin in News, XOOM

It seems like only yesterday we were watching Steve Jobs reveal the second iPad and wondering how Android tablet manufacturers would react (actually, it was yesterday). Now we have news that the Wi-Fi-only version of the Motorola XOOM will be priced at $539 at Sam's Club.

Previous rumors suggested the price for the non-carrier version of the tab would be $600, so this is a bit of a surprise. Of course, wholesale warehouses like Sam's and Costco are usually able to sell for much less than other retailers (they rely mostly on memberships for profit), but this is more of a discount than would typically be expected.

Mar

Party Like It's 1996: Nintendo 64 Emulator Released In The Android Market

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, Games, News

Maybe you can think twice about picking up that new Nintendo 3DS: over a year since development began, the first official release of N64oid, which lets you play classic Nintendo 64 titles on your Android device, is now available in the Market. This is the latest offering from yongzh, the developer behind NESoid, SNESoid, and several other highly-rated emulators for Android.

While emulators for pre-mid-1990s' consoles are commonplace on a variety of mobile devices, the generation that featured N64 and the first Sony Playstation took a huge leap in terms of performance, so developing working emulators for titles from those machines takes considerably more time and commitment from talented developers.

Mar

RBC Predicts That Android Will Dominate The Tablet Market By 2014

Posted by Will Shanklin in Android OS, News

The General Manager of RBC Capital Markets (a major investment bank based in Canada) sees the global tablet market growing by leaps and bounds over the next few years (no surprise there), but he also foresees Android ultimately wearing the crown as market leader. Take his soothsaying as you wish, but GM Mike Abramsky's predictions carry a lot of weight with investors' bank accounts, so you can bet that his words were chosen very carefully.

Abramsky acknowledges that the iPad will likely remain the clear leader in the short-term but adds "... we expect Android to dominate (40% share Tablets by 2014), given its broader support from OEMs and carriers and expected budget-priced Android Tablets from Asia." He envisions many tablet manufacturers dropping like flies as the market becomes more condensed: "Too many vendors entering the market sets up for a pending shakeout" (though he isn't likely referring to major players such as Motorola, Samsung, HTC, or LG).

Mar

Google Maps Updated to 5.2 - More Foursquare-esque Features Added

Posted by Will Shanklin in Applications, News

Google Maps for Android was updated to version 5.2 today, and the influence of mobile check-in services is becoming more and more apparent with the addition of four social location features.

While v5.1 added Latitude check-in functionality, Maps v5.2 brings the ability to post reviews of places to Twitter. Additionally, Google Latitude friends can now be pinged, beckoning them to check-in where you would like them to be (they will then receive a 'request'). In case you need a little inspiration for your next destination, the update also lets you search for a place to check-in from Latitude. Finally, Maps v5.2 allows you to explore hotspots in your area.

Mar

NVIDIA's Tegra 2 Dual-Core CPU Confirmed To Be Powering Some Galaxy S II Handsets

Posted by Zak Stinson in Galaxy S II, News

On Wednesday night, NVIDIA confirmed a rumour that had been swirling around for the last few days. According to a presentation they gave and attended by the folks at ITProPortal, NVIDIA's dual core Tegra 2 chipset is powering three major handsets right now: the Motorola Atrix, the LG Optimus 2X, and the upcoming Samsung Galaxy S II.

When first announced, the Galaxy S II was said to be packing the Exynos, Samsung's own SoC. Now it is clear that they will be releasing two versions of the new device, either with their Exynos Chipset or NVIDIA's. ITProPortal speculates that Samsung is doing this to boost the number of handsets that can be moved to market, as production of the Exynos is still ramping up.