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Dec

CNN Money: Could Google Become A Carrier?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Carriers, Editorials, News, Off-Topic

Yesterday, CNN Money posted a rather interesting piece that posed the question: could Google become "your new phone carrier?" If you're anything like me (and I hope for your sake that you're not), your first response was "Google? A carrier? #$%^ Yeah!" But as awesome as I'm sure that would be, the more I think about it, the less likely it seems.

I'm not saying it won't happen. Hell, even the author of the article (David Goldman) doesn't seem sure of the idea. The point of the article seems to be more so to point out that it's feasible, especially down the road.

Dec

[Review] Super Drill Panic Takes You Back To 1992; Also, The Center Of The Earth

Posted by Brad Ganley in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews, Videos

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

A new round of games that incorporate one of my favorite Android services, OpenFeint, has recently been released. We've gotten our all-too-idle hands on several of these games and, let me tell you, some impressive things are being brought to the table. While flipping through the games and wasting all of my time, one game stuck out to me. Maybe it was the nostalgic feel of it. Maybe it was the Indiana Jones throwback feeling of it. Maybe it was because I really like being able to flaunt my high score to the world. Whatever the reason, I'm a big fan of this game; so much so, in fact, that I made a video of me playing and talking about it.

Dec

Revision 2 Of The Archos 7 Home Tablet Official, Not Much Better Than The Original

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in 7, ARCHOS, News

Nope, the Archos 70 wasn't the death of the good (or not so good) ol' Archos 7 Home Tablet, apparently. The manufacturer has just let revision 2 of the Archos 7 loose, and while it's still got a resistive touchscreen (ugh), its CPU has been upgraded to an 800 MHz Rockchip processor (the older model was powered by a 600 MHz chip), and it now comes with Android 2.1 (as opposed to Android 1.6 on the original).

Expansys will sell you the device for $194.99, though it's currently out of stock and is said to be shipping within 5-10 days.

Dec

[Rumor] LG To Unveil 8.9-Inch Honeycomb Tablet At CES

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, LG, News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990), Tablets

Looks like Motorola won't be the only one showing off a Honeycomb tablet at CES 2011 - according to the Korea Times, LG plans to bring an 8.9-inch Android (2.4?) device to the infamous electronics show.

While the words "LG," "Honeycomb," and "tablet" are probably enough to excite many Android fans, the Korea Times was also able to confirm that LG will have another awe-inspiring device on display at CES: the much-anticipated Optimus 2X, better known as the world's first dual-core phone.

What say you - are you ready for LG to (finally) make its appearance on the high-end Android scene?

Dec

[Rumor] Motorola's Android Tablet To Be Called DROID XOOM, Won't Pack 4G

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Motorola, News, XOOM

If Droid Life's sources are to be believed - and given their track record, I'd say they are - then the upcoming Honeycomb tablet from Motorola will be called the DROID XOOM. We've heard of Motorola filing trademarks for the XOOM name, so it would certainly seem to fit. One other tidbit mentioned by their source: the tablet won't come packing LTE.

Is the lack of 4G disappointing? Sure, but based on what we've seen of the tablet (Andy Rubin using it, leaked pictures, teaser video, and teaser site), it may be very, very well worth it anyway.

Dec

Heads Up: Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor Update Rolling Out, May Reset Rooted Devices

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Barnes & Noble, Development, News, NOOKcolor (Encore)

Device updates that break root are fairly common - in fact, I'd go so far as to say that the majority of updates do so. What's a bit less common, though, is an update that resets your device because you're rooted. The device in question here is the NOOKcolor, and unfortunately it looks like that's exactly what's happening.

Before I dive into the details, I think it's important to note that I doubt that even as much as manufacturers and carriers dislike when people root their device, it's pretty far over the line for them to remotely wipe the devices of people who have done so.

Dec

Viewsonic G Tablet, From Rags To Riches - An Owner's Guide To Making The Best Of A Great Tablet

Posted by Jakub Glodek in Applications, Development, Froyo 2.2, gTablet (SMB-A1002), Tips & Tutorials, Viewsonic

Last Updated: December 31st, 2010

Over the past couple of weeks, I spent countless hours debating whether I should wait around a few months and see what tablets come out or get one now. In the latter case, which tablet was right for me?

Let me start out with what I wanted out of a tablet. First and foremost, I needed a device that let me check my email and read the news. Every morning, I wake up, grab my Sprint EVO 4G, and check my email using Gmail and my work email using Exchange. I then drift to the USA Today App to read the day’s news.

Dec

[Update: Nope] Rumor: The Real Samsung Epic 4G Froyo Update To Roll Out December 26th

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Epic 4G, Froyo 2.2, News, Samsung, Sprint

Update 12/29/10: Nope, either the rumor was false or Samsung/Sprint decided to delay the update once again:

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Epic 4G users, remember the Froyo update (DK28) that we thought was final but turned out to be nothing but a leaked test build? Shortly after the leak, Sprint released a statement discouraging the download and reaffirming the official latest supported build was Android 2.1 with Sprint's software version DI18.

The wait resumed, but not for long, as an official-looking photo of what looks like some sort of a memo in Sprint's internal customer support system, showed up over at Phone Arena.

Dec

Photos Of A Tiny Xperia Phone Hint At An X10 Mini Pro Successor

Posted by Anuj Ahooja in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Sony Ericsson, Xperia X10 Mini / Mini Pro (Robyn / Mimmi)

Sony Ericsson has always had upgrade issues when it came to Android - with the X10, the X10 Mini, and the X10 Mini Pro just recently receiving the update to Éclair (2.1), the majority of Xperia users have been deprived of the numerous features available in Android 2.x. Recently, with leaks of the Playstation Phone (a.k.a. Xperia Play) and the Anzu (a.k.a. X12), it has been made clear that Sony is most likely coming with back with a storm of devices with up-to-date firmware and its usual competitive hardware.

Today, we have a couple of leaked photos of a smaller Xperia phone, similar to the X10 Mini series.

Dec

Android, Evolved - MIUI Beta #5 Coming December 31st. If You've Never Witnessed MIUI, This Is The One To See [VIDEO]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, News, Videos

The MIUI custom ROM has pushed the limits of creativity and customizability ever since it was unleashed a few months ago by Chinese developers, seemingly out of nowhere. At times, you can't even recognize that this is actually Android, which, I suppose, is actually a compliment to Android itself. If it didn't resemble the iPhone UI so much at times, I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more, but nevertheless, it's incredible to see what a smart group of talented people can come up with when they put their minds together.

This article deals with a couple of advanced topics.