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Oct

Rumor: T-Mobile's Samsung Galaxy Tab Launching November 10th

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Galaxy Tab, Samsung, T-Mobile

Seems like T-Mobile's looking to one-up Verizon on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, both when it comes to pricing and when it comes to the release date.

According to TmoNews' latest "dealer ninja" (the one who conjured the screenshot above), the Tab will be launching on November 10th, one day earlier than the date destined for Big Red's version of the tablet. While the screenie offers nothing in the way of price (other than "TBD"), the rumor mill's been there, done that, and pretty much confirmed that T-Mobile's Tab will be costing you $399 on contract and $649.99 off. Not too bad, but be sure to hit up our full comparison between this and the iPad here to make sure the Tab's pricing is right for you.

Oct

Alpha Froyo ROM Released For ZTE Blade / Orange San Francisco

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Blade, Devices By Manufacturer, Froyo 2.2, News, ZTE

Here's some great news for owners of the budget flavour-of-the-month, the ZTE Blade. Saddled with Éclair at birth, the dudes over at MoDaCo's ZTE Blade section have given their phones a new lease of life with a Froyo port from the domestic Chinese model to their beloved Orange San Francisco.

The ROM is very much in the Alpha stage right now, but even so it is very exciting news for those of you who have heard of the Blade. For those of you scratching your heads in bewilderment, stay tuned - our ZTE Blade review will be up early next week.

Oct

[Updated With Mirror] Motorola Cliq Gets Manual Update To Android 2.1 Éclair

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), Eclair 2.1, Motorola, News

Last Updated: October 24th, 2010

It's been a long and difficult journey for Cliq owners, but it looks like the finish line may just be around the corner – Motorola is now allowing a limited number of users to test out the update to Android 2.1 Eclair.

Jealous? Don't be - thanks to the folks over at Android Central, the rest of us get to join in on the fun too. Unfortunately, the process isn't exactly as simple as an OTA, so here's how to do it:

Download the update file (it should be called "Blur_Version.2.1.5.MB200.T-Mobile.en.US.zip") ~~from~~ ~~here~~.

Update: It was bound to happen sooner or later - the file at the link above has been pulled.

Oct

Giant Gingerbread Statue Arrives At Googleplex

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Gingerbread 2.3, News, Videos

What do we have here? Why, it's a giant Gingerbread statue getting installed over at Googleplex, right next to Froyo and the rest of the gang. It's not exactly what we'd been expecting and hoping to see today, but it's a start. Last time the Froyo statue was installed, we got the SDK a week later. Bring it on, Google!

Source: YouTube via morrildl Twitter

Oct

QuickDesk 0.4 Now In The Market, Brings QuickPanel Task Switcher, UI Redesign; PRO Version Coming

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News

There are a couple of Android programs that are so brilliant and well done that you can't imagine your life without them. For me, these programs are Launcher Pro, Titanium Backup, and QuickDesk. QuickDesk is ingenious and always makes those who see it for the first time beg me to tell them what it is. Minutes ago, Faruq, the QuickDesk developer, published a completely redesigned and long awaited version 0.4 to the Market, and it is good. Damn good.

To give you a brief background on the app, with QuickDesk, you double tap on the Home button and a quick overlay pops up on top of the current app without taking over and destroying whatever is going on on the screen.

Oct

Samsung's Galaxy Player 50 Runs Android, Shows Up In An Ad, Goes Up For Preorder

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Player 50, News, Samsung

Back in September, Samsung announced 4 new media players, one of which was of particular interest to us - the Galaxy Player 50. Out of the bunch, the Galaxy Player 50 was the only device running Android - it's what iPod Touch is to an iPhone, a Galaxy S phone without a ~~chromosome~~ phone.

What we have here today is Samsung's official video ad showcasing the player's capabilities, using a hilariously crooked finger, as Wired commenters pointed out. Seriously, once you see the finger, it's the only thing you can look at - I even had to rewind and re-watch to see the player itself:

The player sports the following specs, some of which, like the camera, are quite measly:

WiFi (obviously)
3.2 inch screen
Android Market access
FM Radio
GPS
DLNA support
Comes in 8GB and 16GB flavors
2MP camera (ouch)
Android 2.1

The Galaxy Player 50 is currently up for presale in France for €200 (8GB) and €250 (16GB).

Oct

Broadcast Networks Block Google TV, Stay Stuck In The '90s

Posted by Brad Ganley in Google TV, Internet TV, Logitech, News, Sony

Google TV hasn't been in the wild for long, but major content providers like ABC, CBS, and NBC are already blocking their content from Google's awesome little TV companion. This, as you might have guessed, sucks.

With the advent of TV on the Internet, broadcasters have shown us time and time again that they just aren't ready to embrace the fact that we can get their content from sources other than our TVs. Luckily, says Reuters, Google is reported to be in active negotiations with the networks to get this content back on. As I'm sure you've guessed already, that essentially means that Google is figuring out how much money the networks are going to demand.

Oct

4 Free StarCraft II Android Apps That Will Help You Achieve A GG

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in App Reviews, Applications, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

Last Updated: July 24th, 2011

I have loved StarCraft ever since the first version came out back in 1999. I've played it for 10 years, and this year excitedly watched, with all of you, the unveiling of both the beta and final versions (hey, we even got our cool Twitter background thanks to Starcraft II).

While you can't play StarCraft II on your phone, there is a variety of applications on the Android Market aimed at providing stats and other information that should help you be on the winning side of "gg" at the end of the game. Let's take a look at the best of them.

Oct

REVIEW: Reckless Racing Brings Yeehaw Dorifto To Android

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Apps/Games, Games

Note: Testing for this review was done on a Nexus One

I love drifting. As I tuck myself into bed, I can be heard to whisper "Good night, Dorikin". So when I read that Reckless Racing, so long anticipated on the Droid Forums gaming section, had finally been released, I immediately bought it from the market.

My first impressions weren't particularly positive. The country hick theme (RR was formerly known as Deliverace) did not appeal to me, and the single-thumb control scheme was terrible. It didn't feel like it had been worth the wait, especially after a 20 minute download for the game data.

Oct

DataViz Announces Documents To Go Version 3.0, Adds Google Docs Support, Enhances Just About Everything

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, News

Let's face it: productivity suites like Microsoft Office or the cloud-based Google Docs aren't exactly exciting, but they are among the most vital applications for the businessmen in us. Whether this remains true when 2.8-4.3-inch displays are concerned is debatable, but if you ask DataViz, the company that developed the free Documents To Go app, the answer is a resounding "yes."

The company has just released a brand new version 3.0 of its uber-popular app, which includes numerous improvements, namely:

a "totally redesigned" UI (not so sure that's for the better, though; all I'm seeing right now is a bunch of ugly blue menus)
an enhanced file browser
Google Docs support (the one thing that had always been missing for me)
an improved PDF viewer that now includes various zooming options (pinch-to-zoom and double-tap-to-zoom), keypad shortcuts, hyperlinks, the ability to rotate a page, render multiple pages, and more
an "optimized" version of Slideshow To Go
support for password-protected Office 2003 & 2007 docs as well as support for Microsoft Office 2010 files