Android - 13/167 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

MediaMonkey, The Desktop Media Player, Now Has An Android Counterpart, Syncs Over WiFi And Other Cool Stuff

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

In the desktop world, there is virtually no end to the number of music and video managers out there. MediaMonkey was one of the not-quite-legendary-but-still-popular options that excelled for its ability to change tags and run custom scripts. Now, users of this program can sync to their phones without going through an extra program with the MediaMonkey for Android beta.

The beta APK is currently available over on Reddit, and obviously comes with some disclaimers, and you'll have to install the newest version of the Windows app to use it. Once you've done that, though, there a host of features already available:

Content Navigation for Music, Audiobooks, Podcasts, Video, ...

Dec

XBMC For Android Finally Gets Its Own Official Release (Codenamed 'Frodo'), No Messy Compiling Required

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Applications, News

When last we left ~~our heroes~~ XBMC for Android, the group behind the open source multimedia manager had announced that it would be bringing support to the platform soon. Of course "soon" isn't a word that tweakers like to hear, so some enterprising fellows compiled the source code into an APK for your testing pleasure, with all the disclaimers that entails. Today, however, a more official app is being distributed by the team with a hefty 'beta' tag attached.

The team also took this opportunity to point out that if your device doesn't support the NEON extension, this app simply won't work for you.

Dec

[Weekend Poll] What Type Of Browser Are You Using On Your Android Phone?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see What Type Of Keyboard Are You Using On Your Android Phone?

Much like keyboards (which we covered last week), browsers are a dime a dozen. Google ships one browser with Android (in more recent versions, that's been Chrome), which most manufacturers then replace with their own proprietary version. And then there are the dozens (if not hundreds) of third-party browsers available on the Play Store.

What browser do you use on your phone? Stock Android (from before the days of Chrome as default), stock manufacturer, Chrome, or third-party?

Nov

AT&T Samsung Galaxy Camera Review – A Decent Point-And-Shoot That Doesn't Quite Live Up To Its Price Point

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Galaxy Camera, Other Reviews, Reviews

Samsung's Galaxy Camera, the manufacturer's first entry into the world of dedicated shooters powered by Android, was announced with little warning at IFA earlier this year. Besides Nikon's foray into the market, the Galaxy Camera is one of the only Android cameras we've yet seen. Frankly, of the two, Samsung's entry is the only one that seems worth looking at.

The question of how much longer point-and-shoot cameras can see success is a fair one – after all, DSLRs are becoming smaller and more affordable all the time, while smartphone cameras are reaching to fill the gap point-and-shoots would leave behind.

Nov

[Changelog] What's New In Android 4.2.1 (JOP40D)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Android 4.2.1 along with its source were released today, but outside of the December bug in the People app, it wasn't immediately apparent whether it contained other fixes and improvements or not. The list of files touched by the Nexus 4 OTA was extensive, but now thanks to developer Al Sutton, we can confirm that most of those were probably just minor edits to bump the version number.

According to Al and his handy AOSP diff script, here are the only changes in Android 4.2.1 (4.2.1_r1) open source code compared to Android 4.2 (4.2_r1). Note: There could be other changes in closed-source components.

Nov

Android 4.2.1 (JOP40D) Live In AOSP [Updated]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Development, Jelly Bean 4.2, News

Last Updated: February 12th, 2013

Earlier today, both the Nexus 4 and the Nexus 10 started receiving small ~1MB OTAs to Android 4.2.1 with fixes to the missing month of December in the People app, among other things. The corresponding open source files are being pushed by Google to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) as we speak, Android release engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru just announced in the Android Building group.

The build number is JOP40D and the tag is android-4.2.1_r1. From what I can tell, a lot of the code is already up - here are some links to get you started:

The source code for 4.2.1 is being pushed into AOSP right now.

Nov

Needs More Training: Avengers Initiative Review

Posted by Matt Demers in Apps/Games, Game Reviews, Games, Reviews

After a long time in development, Marvel (and their parent company Disney) have released Avengers Initiative to the Android masses. Coming with a $6.99 price tag on a limited number of devices, it adds to the growing list of Avengers-themed mobile games, even if only one of those heroes is available in this particular title.

The Premise

Avengers Initiative puts you in the role of the Hulk, who has been tasked in bringing in a number of super-villains who have escaped from a high-tech prison in the Marvel Universe. The game plays almost exactly like the popular Ininity Blade series on iOs, where you'll dodge, parry, and perform attacks in 1-on-1 duels.

Nov

[Weekend Poll] What Type Of Keyboard Are You Using On Your Android Phone?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see Will/Do You Use The Multi-User Support In Android 4.2?

There's an absolute plethora of keyboard options available for Android devices - in today's poll, phones in particular. You can use the Android (AOSP) keyboard, the stock manufacturer keyboard that ships on your phone, or one of the hundreds of third-party options available in the Play Store. And if you go third-party, there are all different styles, from quirky options like 8Pen, to trace-based keyboards like Swype, and traditional predictive tap-based choices such as SwiftKey.

Nov

Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition Gameplay Trailer Released, Coming To Android Sometime After November 28th

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Games, News

Back in July, Overhaul Games announced that they would be reviving the RPG classic Baldur's Gate for the PC, Mac, iOS, and Android devices. Since then, all has been quite on that front. But today, the company released the first gameplay trailer, which gives a nice look into what players can expect from this rehashed title.

It's worth noting that this video is from the PC version of the game, but since it's running on the Infinity Engine, the mobile version should look nearly identical.

The PC, Mac, and iOS release is slated for November 28th, but unfortunately, the Android variant is listed as coming "soon" after that.

Nov

38 Best New Android Apps And Live Wallpapers From The Last 3 Weeks (10/31/12 - 11/21/12)

Posted by Jeremiah Rice in Applications, Best Apps/Games/LWPs Of The Week, News

Welcome to the roundup of the best new Android applications, games, and live wallpapers that went live in the Play Store or were spotted by us in the previous 2 weeks or so.

This is the app roundup. The game roundup from this week can be found here.

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 roundup editions? Find them here.