4.0 - 5/7 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

Editorial: Steve Wozniak Isn't Afraid To Criticize iOS's Shortcomings, And We Shouldn't Be Afraid To Call Out Android's

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials

When I read the comments of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in an interview with The Daily Beast, my first thought was "this sounds like an eminently reasonable man making some well-reasoned points." Of course, being an Android site, we took interest in Wozniak's comments on Android's superior (in some respects) voice commands, as well as his praise of its workable built-in navigation solution (something iOS currently lacks outright).

I've used Siri. It's pretty fun (and funny) at times. But in my opinion, it doesn't do many things better than Android's voice commands (word recognition is, perhaps, a little better - though I've not compared it to Android 4.0's instant STT engine, which I've heard is a big improvement).

Jan

[Poll] Some Users Are Reporting Frequent Lock Ups And Reboots After Ice Cream Sandwich Update For Asus Transformer Prime

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in ASUS, Eee Pad Transformer Prime, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Yesterday, Nvidia's CEO announced that the Ice Cream Sandwich (that's Android 4.0 for those of you new to the game) update for the quad-core Asus Transformer Prime would begin rolling out immediately. Sure enough, users started receiving the update, and we managed to snag and host the OTA ourselves (as well as help you prevent it from breaking root). For most, the update brought everything you'd expect from the hot new version of Android: even smoother, snappier performance, sleeker transitions, and various other perks. But for some, it appears that the update has seriously screwed up their device.

According to a six-page thread over at XDA, there are a number of users (though likely a very, very small percentage) who are having some pretty serious issues after updating, regardless of whether or not they were rooted beforehand.

Dec

[Weekend Poll] Do You Prefer Hardware Or Software Buttons?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Did You Get An Android Device For The Holidays?

In tablets, having buttons on-screen rather than built into the body is standard operating procedure. On phones, however, there's really only one that eschews physical buttons for software, and that's the Galaxy Nexus. Still fuzzy on what I mean? Take a look at the comparison shot below, lifted from our review of the Galaxy Nexus:

^{On the left, the Galaxy Nexus, with its three software buttons displayed on-screen. On the right, a Motorola Atrix, with its four hardware buttons at the bottom.}

Dec

[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Mega-Holiday Giveaway #9: Santa's Samsung Grab Bag: Win A Verizon Galaxy Nexus, T-Mobile Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 10.1 And More

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Captivate Glide, Contests / Giveaways, Galaxy Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Samsung, T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: January 23rd, 2012

In our biggest giveaway yet, we're handing out a whole boatload of awesome Samsung Android products - including the Verizon Galaxy Nexus, T-Mobile Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the T-Mobile Galaxy S II. Also included are the Captivate Glide and the Exhibit II 4G, all courtesy of our friends at Samsung's Mobile US division. This contest is open to US entrants only (they're US-only devices and Samsung USA is sponsoring, sorry guys).

This contest is now over. Here are our winners, selected at random:

Galaxy Nexus: Jason Kennedy
T-Mobile Galaxy Tab 10.1: Daniel James
T-Mobile SGS II: Neal Gompa
T-Mobile Exhibit II 4G: Joshua Holt
AT&T Captivate Glide: Rob Lightner

Congratulations, guys - all of you will be contacted for your information in the near future!

Dec

[Updated: And The Winner Is...] Mega-Holiday Giveaway #6: Win A Verizon Galaxy Nexus And A Pair Of Klipsch S4A Headphones

Posted by David Ruddock in Contests / Giveaways, Galaxy Nexus, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Last Updated: January 13th, 2012

You probably guessed this was coming - our Mega-Holiday Giveaway series just wouldn't be complete without a Galaxy Nexus (check out our just-published review). Today, we're giving away one Verizon Galaxy Nexus, courtesy of our friends at Texas Instruments, along with a pair of Klipsch S4A headphones (read our review here). (For our international readers: this particular contest is open to the US only (it's a US-only phone), but you may want to check back tomorrow.)

We've selected randomly from all the entries, and our winner is...

Kyle Korum

Congratulations, Kyle - We'll contact you for your information in the near future!

Dec

Samsung: Galaxy S II, Galaxy Note, Galaxy R, Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9, 10.1 All To Get Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted by David Ruddock in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Samsung

Samsung has finally made an official statement regarding its plans to upgrade current handsets to Ice Cream Sandwich (Android version 4.0), and the short list is indeed quite short:

Galaxy S II (including AT&T LTE version)
Galaxy Note
Galaxy R
Tab 7.0 Plus
Tab 7.7
Tab 8.9
Tab 10.1

Updates will start with the Galaxy S II and Note in Q1 2012, but that time frame likely applies to world versions of the phone, so those with American carrier-branded versions of the GSII will probably be waiting a little longer. The rest of the devices listed will "soon follow."

There are no mentions of any other possible candidates, so if your phone isn't listed, you can rest pretty well assured it won't be getting an upgrade to Android 4.0 from Samsung.

Dec

Official Demo Android 4.0 Update For The Huawei Honor (U8860) Released

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Huawei, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

In a major "Surprise!" moment, Huawei has officially released what looks to be a demo build of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) for the Honor (model number U8860). Details are incredibly light at the moment, since all we're really going on here is a product support page that's been Google Translated from Chinese to English and contains next to no information:

According to the poster at XDA, the posted update is actually just a "demo" (beta?) and not the final version. A Huawai Senior VP (Yu Chengdong) has been sharing pictures and some details via Chinese social media service Weibo (auto-translate is including such gems as, "I use black Honor, equipped with the latest 4.0 version of the operating system Andrews.

Nov

New HTC Ville Renders Leak, Reveal Brushed Aluminum And A Slim Profile

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in HTC, News, Ville

Remember the upcoming HTC Ville that we heard about earlier this month? Pocketnow has snagged what seems to be an official render, and the image reveals a device swathed in brushed aluminum - not to mention, as rumored, the Ville does look like it will check in at under 8mm thick.

Other details remain the same as what we've heard before:

Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich)
4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display
1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor
8MP rear shooter (the same one that's reportedly in the Edge) with 1080p video
Metal construction
Less than 8mm thick
HSPA+
1650mAh battery
Sense 4.0
Beats Audio

HTC is expected to reveal the Ville at MWC in February, to be released in April.

Nov

MoDaCo's Paul O'Brien Releases Patch For Galaxy Nexus Softkeys With Menu And/Or Search Key Reinstatement

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Development, Galaxy Nexus, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

One of the most prominent new features on the Galaxy Nexus, and Ice Cream Sandwich, is that the soft-keys are displayed right on the screen. While the notion is a sound one, there will always be those who miss some of the legacy features left behind. In this case, those would be the Menu and Search keys, stalwarts of Android's interface paradigm since its release with the G1. What was once four buttons - Home, Menu, Back, Search* - has been whittled down to just Home and Back, along with the introduction of the new multitasking-purposed App Switcher button. This combination was seen previously in Android 3.0 Honeycomb, but is about to encounter widespread use on upcoming phones**.

Nov

[Update: Download Mirrors] Google Music 4.0.9 App Now Live On The Android Market

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Google, News

The Google Music 4.0.9 update (remember the pre-release version 4.0.1 we leaked last month?) is live in the Android Market. The app now integrates with the new Music-enabled Market and has a brand new, much improved ICS-like UI.