apple - 17/20 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Dec

AppBrain Adds A Filter To Hide Sexually Explicit Apps In The Android Market

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Applications, News

Google's recent updates to the Android Market have further refined the process of installing and purchasing apps, but they still haven't developed a suitable desktop alternative to browsing the thousands of Android apps available. AppBrain is a third-party website that fills this gap by allowing users to browse apps on their computers and then choose which ones to install on their phones.

AppBrain is a great tool, but it is limited by the policies of the Android Market, which allow almost any app to be installed. Unlike Apple's App Store, Google does not employ any kind of filtering system, so there are a number of apps which could be harmful for end users (i.e.

Dec

[Update: Possibly Fake] Best Buy Reduces Price Of Verizon's Galaxy Tab To $500 Without Contract

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Deals, Galaxy Tab, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

Though it previously retailed for $599, the Verizon version of the Samsung Galaxy Tab can now be purchased from Best Buy without a contract for just $499. The price drop may be an indication that the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab could retail for much less.

Update: It looks like this is fake! Our own source at Best Buy, as well as calls to various brick-and-mortar locations, suggest to us that this is just a case of Photoshop trickery. Sorry for any confusion! -- Aaron

Update 2: According to commenter K, this deal has indeed been going on for a bit - to get the discounted price, you have to sign up for at least the $20 plan, which can be canceled after the first month.

Nov

Awesome Android Stop Motion Animation: The Evolution Of Android, With A Twist

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Off-Topic, Videos

To end our relatively calm and Gingerbread-less Friday, I present to you The Evolution Of Android - a stop motion animation created by YouTube user droidsans. It's kind of like our Meet Andy: Android's History In A Nutshell, except it's not. And it's got a twist at the end. Can you guess what it is?

My favorite part was when Andy spit it (I'm still not telling you what "it" is - watch the video) out - thanks for making our Friday night a little more fun, droidsans!

[Bonus] To finish the night off, here is an Apple keyboard autocorrect fail:

Got one better?

Nov

T-Mobile Goes After The iPhone And AT&T In A New 4G Campaign [Video]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, T-Mobile, Videos

Yesterday, T-Mobile officially rebranded its new HSPA+ network as "4G" in an effort to gain that extra G that consumers are so obsessed with (relevant: [1] [2]). In order to promote this newly proclaimed largest 4G network in the country along with the myTouch 4G that was released today, the company launched a video campaign that will air on major TV networks and websites.

The first campaign video features a fresher, younger, and even more vibrant replacement for Catherine Zeta-Jones (who has been T-Mobile's regular face in the last few years) in a familiar and kind of overplayed "Hi, I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" style.

Oct

The Revenge Of El Jobso - Apple Countersues Motorola

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Motorola, News

At the beginning of the month (October 6 to be exact), Motorola sued Apple for infringing 18 of its patents, including ones as diverse as antenna design and multi-design synchronization. Of course, being a company run by El Jobso himself, Apple just couldn't help it - they just had to strike back.

And strike back the fruit-themed company has, claiming Motorola's Android phones infringe on six Apple patents, including (but not limited to) the:

Droid
Droid 2
Droid X
Cliq
Cliq XT
Backflip
Devour A555
Devour i1
Charm

The patents?

7,812,828, Ellipse Fitting for Multi-Touch Surfaces
7,663,607, Multipoint Touchscreen
5,379,430, Object-Oriented System Locator System
7,497,949, Touch Screen Device, Method, and Graphical User Interface for Determining Commands by Applying Heuristics
6,493,002, Method and Apparatus for Displaying and Accessing Control and Status Information in a Computer System
5,838,315, Support for Custom User-Interaction Elements in a Graphical, Event-Driven Computer System

It's not surprising to see Apple re-enforcing its scrolling patent (that would be patent #7,497,949) yet again, and since the company filed the cases in the Western District of Wisconsin (a court with a reputation for being nice to the plaintiffs), Motorola might be in deep with the sharks here.

Oct

Android Absolutely Destroys Apple, Microsoft, Palm, And Blackberry In WSJ's "Who Makes The Best Mobile OS" Poll

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in News, Off-Topic

Last week, the Wall Street Journal posted a public poll asking its readers to pick the best mobile operating system maker. Apple, Google, Microsoft, Palm, RIM/Blackberry, and Other were valid options, with Apple leading at about 55% at the time. Noticing this, Android Police along with reddit and other media publications issued a call to action:

The next day, Android and Apple traded places, and the former started leading by a small margin.

Fast forward a week, and I decided to check back with the poll to see how it is doing... I will just leave the following here without any commentary - the results speak for themselves*:

What can I say?!

Oct

App Developer Posts His Experiences And Thoughts On Android Market And Apple App Store: Android Market Is Alright, But...

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Apps/Games, Development, News

Benoit Essiambre, the developer behind iOS and Android apps Speed Bones, Speed Muscles, and Speed Anatomy, recently compared his experience with the Android Market to that of the Apple App Store. Particularly, he discussed ease-of-use, support, and perhaps most importantly, profitability. His thoughts as a developer: the Android Market has a perk or two, but overall it still falls short of the Apple App Store.

His first point: Canada only received paid market support just a few weeks ago. In fact, he created Speed Bones nearly two years ago, before realizing that the Market didn't yet support paid Canadian apps.

Oct

T-Mobile To Launch Samsung Galaxy Tab For $399 On Contract/$649 Off? Does It Stand A Chance Against The WiFi/WiFi+3G iPads? [Comparison]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Tab, News, Samsung, T-Mobile

Earlier this week, BGR leaked a likely $399 on-contract price tag for the Sprint's version of the upcoming Galaxy Tab. Today, TmoNews dug up some slides showing T-Mobile's version of the tablet coming with the same $399 price tag (on a 2-year contract of course), albeit after a $50 rebate. The version that will free you from the carrier's firm grip will make you part with an additional $250 and cost a whopping $649.99.

Galaxy Tab Vs The iPad

Comparing this to the iPad, where $499 buys you a comparable WiFi-only 16GB version and $629 gets you the WiFi+3G one, the Tab fits kind of in the middle.

Sep

[Comic] The Difference Between Android And iPhone - This Pretty Much Sums It Up

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Off-Topic

Last Updated: September 26th, 2010

Found at the top of reddit's Android page today is this comic comparing the openness of Android to the closed ecosystem of Apple's iPhone and iOS. It warranted an immediate tweet, but since tweets are very short-lived, I decided to have it take a more permanent place on our site.

Here we go: