app - 5/47 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Mar

[New App] T-Mobile Releases Official Bobsled Calling App For Tablets – Call, Chat, And Connect With Friends On The Big(ger) Screen

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Bobsled users can now connect with friends from their Android-powered tablets, thanks to Vivox and T-Mobile. For the uninitiate, Bobsled is a service developed by T-Mobile (in collaboration with Vivox) which aims to let users connect to their friends via internet calling or messaging for free.

Bobsled's app allows users to log into Facebook and connect with anyone from their friends list at the touch of a button, allowing for chat, voice messaging, and calls to land lines or mobile phones in the US, Canada, or Puerto Rico. Currently land line/mobile calls are limited to 75 minutes per call, but the service itself is certainly handy, especially considering Bobsled-to-Bobsled calls feature high-definition audio.

Mar

[New App] Seamlessly Share And Sync Designs, 3D Models, And Other Assets With Autodesk's Buzzsaw For Android

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Autodesk, a clear leader in 3D design software (particularly in the fields of architecture and construction), recently released Buzzsaw Mobile for Android to Google's Play Store, bringing the awesome cloud-based project sharing functionality of the corporation's original Buzzsaw service to the palm of your hand.

For those unfamiliar, Autodesk's Buzzsaw service essentially provides cloud-based sharing for design projects and files, allowing project stakeholders to sync and view designs, 3D models, and other relevant assets with ease. Until recently, however, Buzzsaw sync was only supported for desktop and iOS devices.

Remedying that situation, Autodesk has brought the same breezy yet practical functionality users expect of Buzzsaw to the Android platform.

Mar

COMODO, Bitdefender, Zoolz Cloud Apps Hit The Play Store, Offer Users Tons Of Ways To Store, Sync, And Share Files From Their Android Device

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

A flurry of cloud storage apps have hit the Play Store in recent days, with COMODO Security Solutions, Bitdefender, and Genie9 all releasing official cloud solutions. Each of the new apps puts its own twist on cloud storage, offering slightly different features, so it's worth looking at each individually.

COMODO Cloud

Comodo Security Solutions, a respected purveyor of desktop (and Android) security solutions, released COMODO Cloud to the Play Store just a couple of days ago, bringing a practical, thoughtful solution to those seeking an easy cloud syncing option.

Comodo's cloud storage service for Android tips the scales among new cloud app entries, offering users 5GB of free storage, allowing for the upload of "any file," from photos to videos, apks, and more, adding special support for contact backup (just in case your contacts aren't synced with Google).

Mar

GO Launcher HD Hits The Play Store, Bringing GO Goodness To Tablets Running 3.0 And Above

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

The team behind the awesome GO suite of apps have brought the functionality and style of GO Launcher to Android-powered tablets everywhere today (as long as they're running 3.0+), bringing GO Launcher HD out of beta. You may remember our beta coverage earlier this month, in which we got a sneak peak at GO's tablet launcher, and it looks like little has changed. For a launcher that aims to be minimally intrusive yet offer a ton of functionality, however, that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

With GO Launcher HD, users can utilize the dock bar characteristic of ICS' phone interface, adding and rearranging up to 10 shortcuts.

Mar

[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Book Giveaway #15: Win One Of Ten Copies Of "Android Apps With App Inventor," Easily Build Apps Like A Pro, Profit

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Contests / Giveaways, Dev

Last Updated: March 22nd, 2012

Those of you from the early days of Android may remember App Inventor - a Google project that allowed people to create apps for Android by dragging and dropping bits of code - no programming experience required. More recently, Google transferred the App Inventor to MIT, where it was open sourced. But the App Inventor (AI) is still a bit tricky to just open and jump right in to - a proper guide through the AI would allow someone to utilize its full potential, and create more complex apps in less time.

Luckily, our friends at InformIT have such a guide - and we've got 10 copies to give away.

Mar

Titanium Backup Updated To Version 4.8.4 With Box.net Integration - Finally Gives Those 50GB Accounts A Purpose

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Applications, News

Titanium Backup, a widely popular backup solution for root users, got an update today to version 4.8.4, adding a handful of improvements and functions, not the least of which being support for Box.net backup syncing.

If you're wondering why Box.net support is significant, the reason is this: until now, mobile users have had little use for the cloud service's free 50GB account option, which caps the size of uploads at 100MB, and is only compatible with mobile devices (meaning there's no desktop syncing capability). Integration with an app like Titanium Backup should finally put free Box.net storage to effective use.

Mar

Official NCAA March Madness App Released For Android With Impressive Features In Tow - But Some Device/OS Restrictions

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

March Madness officially begins tomorrow (March 13), and before all is said and done on April 2, a whopping 67 games will have been played. It's tough to keep up with the sheer number of games going on, but it just got a whole lot easier thanks to the fresh-on-the-market official app, NCAA March Madness Live.

The app is free, and offers an impressive list of features:

- Live game radio of all 67 games
- Live social chatter for teams in every game
- Fill out your official NCAA Bracket Challenge bracket right from your Android
- Track the entire bracket live throughout the tournament
- Get alerts for upsets, overtimes, crunch time (close games), and your favorite teams
- Post directly to Facebook and Twitter
- Use My Channels to see where each game is on all four networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV

You can also upgrade the package in-app for $3.99, which allows you to:

- Watch the NCAA Basketball Selection Show live on Sunday, March 11
- Watch LIVE streaming of all 67 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament games
- Watch a live stream of team practices for the Final Four®
- Watch highlights of all 67 games; highlights available right after each game
- Take it with you: Buy it once and use the March Madness Live account you create to login and watch on your computer.

Mar

Instagram For Android Nearly Ready – "It's Better Than Our iOS App," Says Co-Founder

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, News

After rumors, rumblings, and annoying fakes, it sounds like Instagram is just about ready to officially hit Android. In a talk with Tech Crunch, Instagram Co-Founder Kevin Systrom disclosed a few morsels of information regarding an upcoming Android launch, namely that it's coming soon.
Systrom briefly showcased the Android app on stage at SXSW, but indicated that the app isn't quite ready for a full demo. In a sensational turn of phrase, Systrom noted that "in some ways, it's better than our iOS app. It's crazy."

Android users lucky enough to be running Ice Cream Sandwich can already enjoy breezy photo sharing and "hipster filters," but many argue that those aren't the only benefits offered by Instagram.

Mar

GO Weather Widget Released, Brings Beautiful, Simple Weather To Your GO Launcher EX Home Screen

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

The GO team is, by now, pretty well known - and for good reason. They offer an unbelievable number of ways to overhaul your phone - such as GO SMS Pro, GO Contacts, and GO Keyboard - not to mention dozens of themes for all of their apps. But they are perhaps most well known for GO Launcher EX, and the tons of widgets (and more!) Now, they've released a new one to go with the Launcher: GO Weather Widget.

Three widget sizes are offered (as shown in the left image above): 4x2, 4x1, and 1x1.

Mar

Editorial: Why Google Play Isn't A Bad Name, And How It Represents A New Age For Google As A Company

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Editorials

I have heard an absolute heap of unpleasantness about the rebranding of the Android Market today. Google Play is childish. It's unprofessional. It makes Google look less than serious about its content business. The logo is weird. The name is ambiguous - play what? It reminds people of Sony products. There are endless gripes and, let's face it, there always will be when a company rebrands a popular product.

Tomorrow, countless analysts and "experts" will weigh in on whether the move was a good one, hawking over Google's stock price like a cardiograph readout. Some will say it was terrible - what was Google thinking abandoning the Android branding of their content hub?